FAME
by The Chthonic Professor
Summary: This is an OC submission story, where you create a character to join FAME Academy, the most famous Pokémon school in the world, to follow their dreams! Read the Introduction Chapter for Instructions. Follow David, Violet, Sora and Fleur as they try to fit in at the school, all while trying to keep up their grades and have fun at the same time!
1. Prologue - Hello

_**F.A.M.E.**_

_**By King**_

_**Prologue – Hello**_

_**IMPORTANT UPDATE – JUNE 7, 2014!**_

_**Because the original introduction chapter 'technically' isn't a chapter, I was required to move it to my profile. If you wish to submit an OC to this story, head there and find where I put the introduction. If you do not want to submit a character, and are only here to read the story, then... read on! It is a pleasure to have you!**_

_-King-_

"Vitus! Vitus, over here!"

Vitus Kruss had been going through his daily warm-up of running laps around Block C when he heard his name being called.

Slowing down from his jog, Vitus wiped away the light sheen of sweat on his forehead and pulled out the two white ear-buds blaring Death Metal in his ears. Scanning his surroundings – an open field with a soccer field on his right side, and a small copse of trees thin enough that he could see the road on the other side to his left – he found his friend of three years, Trevor 'Twitch' Martin, barreling through the trees in his direction.

Twitch was a tall kid, and his lanky, skinny frame coupled in with his long arms only made him look taller. He had a mess of long, thin blond hair that hung in his eyes, and just barely brushed his shoulder in the back. Though most people had never seen them, because they were either hidden behind his hair, his iconic black-tinted aviators, or both, twitch had shining blue-green eyes.

Vitus waited patiently as Twitch caught up to him, only to have to wait even longer as Twitch bent over panting with his hands on his knees. It was clear the poor guy had been running all over campus searching for him, and it was pretty early in the morning as well.

Finally Twitch caught his breath. He stood up straight, looked Vitus in the eye, and promptly shoved a small stack of papers in his sweaty hands.

"I need your help with this year's arrivals."

...

"What?" That one had come straight out of left field and nailed Vitus right in the kisser. He could only stand there, mouth slightly ajar and eyes glazed over in utter confusion.

Twitch sighed, shoved his hands in the pockets of his light blue, heavily ripped grunge jeans and slouched.

"The guy coordinating the freshman's arrivals got really sick, apparently, so Dr. J. asked me to do it instead. The guy giving the Military Tours, you know the one; that prick with the funky hair-do?" Vitus nodded, he definitely knew who that was, "Yeah, he was only doing it 'cuz he owed the other guy a favor. Now there's nobody giving the new 'Tairies a run-down of the do's-and-don't's. You think you can help me out?" Twitch asked, his feet tapping impatiently.

"No problem, Twitch. Just tell me when and where, and I'll be there." Vitus said, having regained his composure. He'd be more than pleased to help out a friend in need.

"Thanks," Twitch said, as he gave a sigh of relief, "that's one less thing I'll have to worry about."

Twitch turned away from his muscular friend and began heading back the way he came. Vitus swore he could hear the boy's mumbles carried along by the light morning breeze.

"Now, if only I could get someone to do the Researcher Tours. Those guys are all so scatterbrained..."

Vitus could only laugh at the irony.

_-King-_

"Wow... it's incredible!" came the voice of a young boy as he stared down at the ground through the window of the private plane. Below them was the sprawling campus of FAME, shaped into the likeness of a Pokéball. People were wandering around the campus grounds far below, looking like little ants scuttling around their home to the new arrivals flying high above them.

The girl sitting beside young David only gave a small anti-social snort in response, flicking her violet-streaked black ponytail over her shoulder.

The oddly colored Eevee sitting on the girl's lap gave a snort of amusement at the boys slightly embarrassed expression; his cheeks dusted a light pink. He seemed to shrink into himself at the girl's gaze and his shoulders hunched slightly.

The little Eevee bumped her nose into the girl's stomach, and the David watched in slight awe as they seemed to have a silent conversation that included lots of eye-rolling, face-scrunching, scowling and the art of sticking-one's-tongue-out-when-defeated-but-too-stubborn-to-admit-it.

Finally, the odd, quiet girl who hadn't spoken a word throughout their entire flight conceded... and turned her attention towards him.

"So... Starlight thinks I'm being anti-social," David couldn't help thinking 'yes, you are' even if it was slightly hypocritical. What? It wasn't his fault he was shy! "My name's Violet, I'm from Anistar," She promptly stuck her hand in his direction, and it took David a few seconds to realize that she wanted a handshake.

"D-David... from Hearthome," he replied, mentally berating himself for stuttering in front of a pretty girl.

Violet paused for a second, looking at the (oddly enough) white-haired boy in confusion.

"Hearthome?" she called, very much confused. It seemed as if confusion was contagious, because now David had no idea where the conversation had gone, and was thus confused in return.

"Uhm... yeah, Hearthome," he said almost cautiously, looking into the (oddly enough) violet eyes of the girl sitting to his left.

"Isn't Hearthome somewhere in Sinnoh?" she asked, this time with a raised eyebrow and an expression that almost screamed 'are you retarded or something?' "I-It is," this girl was really starting to creep him out.

"Then why the hell are you on a plane that clearly departed from Kalos, when Sinnoh is on the other side of the freaking planet!"

Oh, so that's why she was confused.

David blushed in embarrassment, once more, and once again seemed to shrink into his seat under the surprisingly harsh glare coming from the tiny violet-eyed girl.

"O-Oh, i-it's just, my parents were planning a vacation before I was accepted into FAME, so when I got the acceptance letter, the pick-up date interfered with their vacation. Instead of cancelling, my parents decided that I'd come with them to Kalos and leave for FAME from there instead." He explained to the slightly shell-shocked girl, his voice getting lower and lower until it was no more than a whisper at the end.

There was a moment of pregnant silence after David's explanation, until Violet decided she had to clear something up.

"... their?"

Even though her question was as vague as any question can get, David seemed to understand.

"One of the reasons that I wanted to get a Pokémon and go on a journey was to get away from my parents. I got my Pokémon, but I couldn't leave. One of the reasons I applied for FAME was to get away from my parents. The only thing that convinced them to let me go was that I'm coming on a fully-paid scholarship."

Besides the fact that Violet was slightly impressed that this overly-shy boy had to be a good enough battler that he was here on a _scholarship_, something still seemed off about the way he was describing his family.

From what she understood, when most people talked over their parents being over-protective, they sounded annoyed. David just sounded sad.

"Shouldn't you be happy that your parents love you so much they want you to stay home?" she asked.

He only seemed to become more upset.

"Not unless your parents didn't want you leaving because they'd have to waste their precious time doing the chores around the house," Violet could only stare at him with wide-eyes, "and on top of that, I know for a fact that the only things my parents love are each other and money."

Oh god. Now Violet felt terrible. The boy was clearly trying to hold back tears and his hands were clenched so tightly that she could see blood seeping between his fingers. Yup, she'd just made a kid cry, and now it was her job to fix it.

'_Way to make friends,_ idiot,' she thought to herself, mentally bashing her head into a wall.

"Look, I'm sorry for bringing it up, just, please don't cry..." She truly had no idea what to say, the situation was so awkward.

Starlight rolled her eyes at her trainer/sister's ineptness.

"I-It's fine, it's not even your fault," David gave a dry, mocking laugh, and Violet nearly hit him in anger... until she realized he was laughing at himself, "I'm just a wimp who can't stand up for himself anyways, you don't have to feel sorry for me, I can do that just fine on my own."

Whoa, this kid was a drama queen.

... buuut~... she still felt bad about making him feel terrible, so she had to find a way to fix this somehow.

She sighed and moved her arm forward, yanking on his ear (and getting a nice yelp out of him) to get him to look at her.

"I don't think you're a wimp just because your parents are asswipes. It must have taken at least some courage to argue with them to let you attend this school." Even with her ear-yank the kid was still looking at his lap.

So it took her by surprise when he looked up at her with green eyes so intense it took her breath away.

"Why is a pretty girl like you even talking with me anyway, don't you have friends you'd rather be with,"

'_... who does this kid think he is?'_

At first Violet was angry, but then his words hit her, truly hit her, deeper than he could have ever imagined. She knew, she knew for a fact that he hadn't intended for it to be harmful, that he'd only said it out of self-loathing, but _it still hurt._

When she looked down, her eyes suddenly going moist, two thoughts ran through David's head. The first;

'_Oh god, look at what you've done, David!'_

The other;

'_... she's really cute when she's not angry...'_

'The other' was followed by a healthy blush.

Still looking down, Violet spoke with a voice quieter than any David had heard throughout the short time he'd been acquainted with the girl.

"Can you keep a secret, David?"

Suddenly apprehensive at the look in the girl's eyes, David gave a slow, single nod.

"I shouldn't be here."

...

'_... what...?'_

"I shouldn't be going to school, let alone the most famous one on the planet."

"What?" asked David. Violet wasn't making any sense. If she wasn't supposed to be there, then how was she _**sitting right next to him?**_

"I don't have any parents," bombs dropped: one, ", and I was found in the forest outside of Anistar by an Umbreon and an Espeon. They raised me in the forest since I was a child," bombs dropped: two, "and taught me how to speak with other Pokémon." bombs dropped: three, "Life would have seemed perfect to the outside observer, but I knew I was different from the Pokémon around me, and I wanted to meet with my own kind... but I couldn't. I had no concept of society. I still have no concept of society." Bombs dropped: four.

"So, my mother and father, Sunlight the Espeon and Moonlight the Umbreon, pulled some strings. Sunlight used his ability as a psychic Pokémon to get me into FAME," bombs dropped: five, "I decided to come to this school to learn, not just about how society works, but also to learn how to make friends who are people like me," bombs dropped: six.

Once again she was looking down, her hands in her lap, her shoulders shaking ever-so-slightly.

And suddenly, something happened.

David understood.

His hand suddenly entered her line of vision, and she watched detached as a single tear drop splattered across his palm.

"Hello. My name is David, friend of Violet," he said. Her head whipped up so fast that David thought she'd get whiplash. She stared at him in disbelief, looking from his hand to his eyes and back again, over and over again. Then she saw the smile, that small, sincere smile that would be burned into her memory until the day she died, and she laughed.

"Hello. My name is Violet, friend of David."

They shook hands, and a bond was formed.

_-King-_

**AN/** Wow, I feel all sappy and good inside. And I'm listening to Lugia's theme song while writing this, so that isn't helping any. Oh well, I'VE GOTTEN THE PROLOGUE DONE!

...

And it's 11:48 on a Saturday night. Most guys my age would be out partying.

Ah well, screw them. Chibi-me will always be cooler than any of them ever will be!

Where was I going with this?

...

Right. Thanks to _**fennekinfan**_, _**Unbiased Abyss**_, and _**LeafLucario64**_ for submitting the first three characters to be used in F.A.M.E.! To the others... don't fret! I can't thank you guys enough for submitting such awesome characters, and I have big plans for all of them!

Oh, and about my character Twitch, I know he wasn't a submitted character, but one of my friends was intrigued by the new story idea I'd been writing in my handy-dandy notebook (yes, I have one of those... actually, I think it's three or four, but the others have all been filled with ideas already) during science class (ie. This story) and wanted to submit a character of his own. I'm sure if he was a) on fanfiction and b) a fan of reading, he'd have been the first to review, but sadly, he is neither. So, Twitch was born.

... yeah...

Anyway, see you guys when I come out with the next installment of FAME... whenever that is.

Review! Remember, reviews inspire as long as they're not flames! Because flames are bad (unless you're a pyro-maniac and/or a fire-type Pokémon) and are nothing like the push constructive criticism can induce!

King


	2. The Freshman (Part 1) Follow the Leader!

_**F.A.M.E.**_

_**By King**_

_**Chapter 1 – The Freshman (Part 1: Follow the Leader!)**_

David couldn't help the involuntary flinch as he left the confines of the airplane and the glare of the sun hit his eyes. It was late, already almost four in the afternoon, and the sun was low in the sky.

The plane had deposited them directly on the tarmac, leaving some forty-odd kids between the ages of fourteen and fifteen standing around awkwardly with no idea as to what they were doing or where they were supposed to be. That is, until David saw a person, whose age was difficult to guess due to their height... or rather, lack thereof.

David was the first to move and Violet wasn't far behind him, and the two eventually stopped before the rather striking young woman who had long silver hair and green eyes that seemed to sparkle in the low sun.

David couldn't help the red that splashed across the bridge of his nose as he attempted (and failed) to discreetly stare at the girl from his position behind Violet. Perrie Grayson couldn't help the feather-light laugh that escaped her at the young boy's shyness.

Once the group of new arrivals had all gathered in front of the pretty girl, she began speaking.

"Hey everyone! My name's Perrie Grayson, but everyone calls me Pez! I'm in my second year of Battle School, and am Sixteen years old! Now, I'd like you all to follow me so we can get you guys all set up here at FAME!" she said energetically, a big smile ever-present on her pretty face. There was a half-hearted, nervous cheer at the end of her small speech/introduction that she let out another laugh at.

She fondly remembered a reaction almost identical to theirs from the group of new arrivals she'd been in when they'd gotten to the overwhelmingly massive school last year.

She took off down the barren airstrip and towards the buildings, giving a speech similar (but far more enthusiastic than) the one she'd received from their guide last year.

"I'm sure you're all interested about the school, so I'll tell you a little bit about it." She spoke, her head craned to look at the younger students behind her. To her sudden ire, she found they were all taller than her, even the shorter ones in the group.

You may be asking how she could possibly know they were all taller than her from a single backwards glance. When you're as short as she is, you get a sixth sense when it comes to the subject of people's height.

"The school, as you may have noticed on your flight over, is shaped like a Pokéball, and is divided into four blocks. The Southwest, dubbed 'The Maze' by the students, is where all of the school buildings can be found and where you will be spending a chunk of your time taking theoretical lessons, no matter what kind of program your in." She began.

Queue groans.

Pez ignored them and continued, "The Southeast, dubbed 'The Hangout', is a massive area filled with facilities of all kinds. There's a Pokémon Center close to the giant Coliseum we have at the very center of the campus, and one of the most popular places in the hangout is the massive Aquarium." Pez continued to explain.

It wasn't long before Perrie realized that she'd been talking the entire way to the administration building, and that she'd have to cut her small pre-intro of the campus short.

The group of new students all filed into the room split into lines before a bunch of different desks. Hanging from each desk was a cloth displaying a different program for each desk.

David found himself and Violet lined up behind a desk with the banner for the Battle Program.

As he glanced around the room, he noticed that each of the five main banners had different symbols on the front, only one of which was different from the rest. The only program with a black background on their banner was the Military Program; all the others had a white background.

The Breeding Program had the green outline of a 'plus' symbol.

The Coordination Program had the yellow outline of a star.

The Research Program had the blue outline of an atom.

The Military Program had the white outline of two swords crossing behind a shield.

The Battle Program had the red outline of a trio of red tomoe circling each other.

(AN/ If you don't know what tomoe are, look up 'naruto cursed heaven seal' in images, and picture that on a white background, with the little black commas having a red outline and white filling)

David was admiring the design of his Program's banner for a while, and it took Violet jabbing a painful elbow into his back for him to realize that he was next in line. There was a kind looking lady in thick glasses sitting behind the desk, and she smiled as he stepped forwards.

"Hello young man. I'll need your first and last name, as well as some form of identification so that we can confirm your arrival on campus." She told him in a quiet voice.

"Right," he nodded his head absentmindedly and reached into the beige backpack slung over his right shoulder, eventually pulling out his Trainer's Card. It was a rectangular, almost paper-thin tablet-like device with a small chip slotted into the side. He pulled out the chip, automatically turning off the motion-charged device and handed it to the black-haired secretary.

As the secretary looked of his ID, he reminisced about the first time he had purchased his Trainer's Card at the beginning of his journey right after he had received his partner, Turtwig, from the local breeder.

They had taken a small, three second video-clip of him waving, and that was what was displayed in the small circular area of the tablet designated for the ID photo. Displayed beneath it was all of his information as a trainer; his battle ratio, the amount of wins and losses he had, his total Pokémon captured, the amount of money currently on his person, the amount of gym badges he had; all programmed wirelessly into the Trainer Card through the new UBS (Ultra-Battle-Sphere) software that was required of all official league trainers. It was a small device, generally in the shape of a piece of jewelry, which wirelessly transferred information into the tablet, including the outcome of battles as they happened.

Along the bottom of the technological Card were six small circles, each displaying a photo of the team that David currently had on his person.

When the woman was finally done with his registration, she gave him back the chip to his Trainer Card and directed him towards a door behind her. She said he'd find his luggage in there, and that any further instructions would be handled when everyone had received their belongings.

So in went David. He found his luggage after a little while, even receiving help from Violet after she followed him in, and then the two found a seat on a bench in the corner of the room.

"I'm so nervous," David told her, "I can't wait to see what the campus is like!"

Violet nodded in agreement, "I wonder if I'll be able to make more friends like you," she mused, mostly to herself.

"Don't worry, you're a cool person, you'll make friends in no-time," David said, a small tinge of pink dusting the bridge of his nose. He turned his head so that she couldn't see the blush he was sure he was now sporting.

Thankfully, Violet didn't seem to notice.

The two waited for what seemed like hours, but was actually only a few minutes due to the small number of people who actually make it into the Battle Program, when finally something happened.

However, nobody had expected something like this to happen.

The room suddenly went dark, causing more than a few screams as most people couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces.

Thankfully for Violet, she'd been living with her adoptive father, an Umbreon, for her entire life, and could see David's snow-white mess of hair like a beacon of light in the otherwise dark room.

And, just like David's hair was a beacon of light for Violet, Violet's eyes were glowing with an eerie, yet oddly soothing amethyst hue in the pitch black of the waiting room, and were a beacon of light for the otherwise blind David.

Though neither knew they were thinking about the same thing, they found it odd that the same part of their new friend that they had believed to be 'odd' had become the one thing they could see of each other in the suddenly encompassing darkness.

Then, just as quickly as they had disappeared, the lights turned back on, blinding more than a few people.

Once everyone could see again, it wasn't long before someone noticed the new addition to the room. To those who hadn't noticed it, they did after she began speaking.

"Hey newbie's, the name's Katia Karelin, I'm a third year in the Battle Program. I'll be your guide through the campus, we'll get you guys settled in to your new dorms, and then I'll be giving you guys a special treat before 'lights out' tonight!" she explained to the shell-shocked 'newbie's', before swinging an arm in the direction of the now-open garage-esque back door of the room that led outside.

"For now however, follow me!" she yelled, jumping down from her position atop one of the conveyor belts in the room and running outside with a jolly 'whoopee!'

The first years shuffled after her awkwardly, wary of her sudden appearance and exuberant display.

She stopped in an open lot behind the administration building and told them all to take a seat on the concrete. They did as she said, and no more than two minutes later a second set of garage-esque doors opened up at the back of the building, revealing a tall, muscular boy in army cargo and a plain wife-beater, followed by a group of first years, all of them rather beefed-up like their leader. Katia began speaking again.

"BT's, meet Vitus Kruss, third year Military Program student, and the first year 'Tairies," she called, naming terms that absolutely none of the new kids understood. Vitus waved to Katia, who gave an exuberant wave back, and had his group of 'newbie's' sit beside the group in the Battling Program.

One of the kids in the Battle Program raised his hand, but asked his question before he could be called on anyway.

"What are BT's and 'Tairies?" he inquired, pushing up a rather thick pair of glasses further up his nose. Katia, it seemed, was more than happy to answer his question.

"Well, the students each have nicknames for the students in other programs to make it easier to identify each other. It _is_ a little annoying to constantly say 'I'm in the Battle Program'. So, we have nicknames. We, as in; the people in the Battle Program, are BT's. The guys in the Military are 'Tairies, the Breeders are Breeds, the Coordinators are Cords, and the Researchers are Coats. Got all of that?" she explained to the curious boy, and to all of the students listening in. Most didn't acknowledge her, but some (like David), nodded.

Finally, all five groups of new students had arrived in the lot, but the third years in charge all seemed to be waiting for something.

In fact, they _were_ waiting for something... and that something just happened to crash into the ground with earth-shattering force only moments later, causing a massive cloud of dust to erupt in the center of the impromptu circle the group of students had made.

There were many cries of shock, and some of anger as kids had gotten dust in their eyes.

Finally the cloud of smoke began to disperse, revealing the form of a young man sitting astride a... _was that a Dragonite!_

David, along with almost every other first year, Battle Program or not, sitting in the lot stared at the trainer and his seven-foot-three dragon in open-mouthed awe. This Pokémon species was the stuff of _legends_ it was so rare. Most people thought it was a mythical Pokémon created only for the purpose of being in the popular Pokémon Adventure game franchise, where people could try and catch the Pokémon of their dreams, if only in a fantasy world.

And yet, standing not ten feet away from them, was a _real, live, Dragonite!_

The trainer recalled his epic Pokémon with a small pat to its head and the distinct 'whoosh'-ing sound made by any standard Pokéball. This had the consequence of all eyes turning in his direction.

Not only was the dragon impressive, but so was this guy as well. Where David had thought Vitus was massive, this guy was _tall_, standing only a foot smaller than his Dragonite. However, unlike Vitus, he was rather thin. The guy let off a chill, but excitable air, and had an incredibly infectious grin on his face.

"What's up Fristie's!" he crowed, getting a cheer from quite a few of the students, "Welcome to the unofficial-official initiation into Fronteir Academy for the Gifted!" another unanimous cheer, this one louder than the last.

"My name's Trevor Martin, but everyone here on campus, even the professors, call me Twitch," some students called out 'hey Twitch,' to a chorus of giggles. Twitch just kept on grinning at them, "There's only one thing that I need you guys to do for initiation," he leaned in, his voice going quiet as he captured the undivided attention of the first years. Vitus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his friend's performance. He looked over to Katia, but she only shrugged. She hadn't known he was such a great speaker either.

"You're gonna have to find your own dorms!"

David swore he could hear a pin drop.

'_What?'_

"Each of your Program Leaders is heading back to your section of the dorms; you just have to keep up with them and not get lost! Initiation starts now, go!" he yelled.

Immediately, the five third-years leading their groups took off, and David stared with growing apprehension as Katia called out a Pokémon he most definitely recognized as a Honchcrow... and jumped onto its back.

Thinking quickly, he grabbed Violet's hand and ran towards the girl and her Pokémon as they slowly began to rise into the air. Twitch's voice called out from behind them.

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you guys, dorm locations are determined on a first come first serve basis! You know what that means? YOU GET THERE FIRST, THE BEST DORMS ARE YOURS!"

His exuberant yell caused a chaotic outburst among the still-sitting students, and David was more than glad that he'd dragged Violet and himself out of that mess before it happened.

David's long-sleeved green shirt with a small Pokéball decal on the front flapped across his thin frame as he ran after the rapidly fading dot in the sky that was Katia and her Honchcrow. He shoved his left hand (the hand not holding Violet's) into his jean pocket, pulling out a shrunken Pokéball.

Quickly, he pressed the sphere's button-center twice, expanding and then opening the Pokéball in a stream of red light. With a flash, David's Lucario was running alongside him, garnering a raised eyebrow from the jackal Pokémon.

"_David, why are you dragging a lady beside you? Truly, you're not that desperate for a woman that you needed to kidnap one?"_ the Pokémon's voice echoed in his and Violet's minds, both to redden slightly. (Though Violet was slightly amused, even after the sudden intrusion of a voice in her mind).

"Now's not the time for your twisted sense of humor, Lucario!" David fumed, huffing slightly as he tried to pick up the pace. He lifted his hand, Lucario's Pokéball still clutched tightly inside it, and pointed at the black dot ahead of them, yelling, "Follow that bird!"

"_Whatever you say, David,"_ returned the Lucario, who proceeded to close his eyes and stretch out his aura in search of the elusive bird his trainer was chasing down.

Watching as some of the students sped past on the backs of their Pokémon, David couldn't help but feel upset by the fact that none of his Pokémon had the combination of size and speed needed to race with someone on their back.

Turning his head to the slightly taller girl running by his side, David decided to go for broke. As frivolous as it was, he didn't want a dingy dorm room of some sort; he wanted something he'd _enjoy living_ in.

"Violet, do you have a Pokémon that could-" his breathless question was cut off by Violet's rapidly shaking head, "-rattatas, I don't have a Pokémon that could help us in this scenario either," he gasped. His wasn't exactly the fittest of children, and he was begin to get tired, quickly.

Just when it seemed like they were going to be the last ones to arrive, and would end up with bad dorms for the rest of their stay at the school, the two had a saving grace.

"Hey, you two need a ride?"

**AN/** Ah! Don't hate me for the cliffhanger, it's just... they're kind of my specialty... so... expect more of them. *sheepish*

Yeah, so this chapter deviated slightly from what I originally had planned, but I think this works out better. I'll be splitting it up into two chapters, because it would have gone on for faaaaaar too long if it was just one whole chapter.

Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed, I greatly appreciate the fact that you all enjoy this.

_On the next installment of FAME:_ The Freshman (_Part 2: Purple Flower_), a stranger with a strange reason, a grouchy roommate, and goals!

King


	3. The Freshman (Part 2) Purple Flower!

_**F.A.M.E.**_

_**By King**_

_**Chapter 1 – The Freshman (Part 2: Purple Flower)**_

"Human Speech"

'Human thought'

"_Pokémon Speech"_

'_Pokémon thought'_

_**Attacks!**_

_-King- : Transition_

_-King-_

David's brain stopped working for a few seconds, trying to process the sudden appearance of the large, slightly calloused hand that had made itself known mere inches from his face. Sadly, his sudden lack of mental processing also meant that his body had stopped functioning for a moment as well, and that meant that gravity, combined with the unstoppable force that is momentum, had finally caught up to him.

Violet jolted forwards in surprise when David suddenly tripped over his own two feet, planting a decent impression of his face into the cobblestone path beneath them. The boy who had appeared on the back of an Arcanine had the elegant beast slow itself to a stop, turn around, and trot back to where the slighter frame of David could be seen wiping the blood dripping from his nose and dusting off his scruffy clothing.

The boy sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he jumped off the back of his regal-looking Arcanine. He approached David and Violet, extending his large, guitarists-hand for a greeting.

"Sorry about that, I probably should have thought that through first. The name's Sora and this is Prime, my Ditto," he waved his hand towards the Arcanine-turned-purple-blob, eliciting a very un-manly shriek of surprise from David.

Ignoring the shivering boy beside her, Violet stepped forwards and shook Sora's hand. This boy was interesting, and a prospect for a new friend, so she decided to curb-stomp her paranoia and introduce herself.

"My name's Violet and this is David," she told Sora, jerking a thumb at the boy who was still giving Prime odd looks. Violet, however, wasn't finished, "I am curious, however, as to why you'd slow yourself down to help us?"

While she was talking, David's Lucario was making urgent movements and sounds, clearly trying to convey that he wouldn't be able to keep the elusive Katia and her Honchcrow within his range for much longer. Sora noticed this, and shook his head at Violet.

"I'll tell you later, right now, we have a dark-type to catch!" Sora exclaimed as he flicked his wrist, a Pokéball with white flame designs around the bottom of the red part of the hemisphere appearing in his hand.

'_Okay'_, David had to admit, _'that was_ _really cool,'_

"Phoenix, let's go!" he yelled while releasing a large bird-type Pokémon with a white-ish grey underbelly and red plumage on its wings and crown. He leaped up onto the fire-flying type's back while calling out a command to Prime, his Ditto.

"Prime, Garchomp form!" he yelled behind him, and his little purple Ditto suddenly transformed into a massive Pokémon with torn fins and a red belly.

Phoenix began to flap her wings, lifting herself and Sora high into the sky. David and Violet could hear him cackling faintly in the distance.

"Quit dawdlin' and get on, slowpokes!"

Ignoring the fact that a Ditto had just flawlessly turned into a freaking _Garchomp_, David and Violet climbed onto the transformed normal-type's back. Violet blushed at the close proximity between the two and could clearly feel every curve of David's chest as her back pressed tightly into him. His hands wrapped around her waist and held her tightly, causing the both of them to blush even further.

However, all of this was forgotten when Prime shot forwards so quickly he _broke_ the sound barrier.

_-King-_

By the time Violet realized she'd been screaming herself hoarse, they had already stopped before a row of small, one-story white picket-fence townhouses, leaving a long trail of dust behind them. Violet's breath hitched in her throat at the sight of the rows upon rows of buildings. Having lived in a forest for her entire life, this was something that she'd been dreaming of ever since she had been given a glimpse of civilization. To sleep in a real bed, have a home of her own; it was one of the few things she had ever wanted in her short fourteen years of life.

Violet was so engrossed in staring at the rows of pretty houses that she failed to notice Sora arriving on Phoenix's back. David slid off of Prime's back and wobbled his way over to Sora and his large bird Pokémon, thanking the boy for all of his help.

David turned around, ready to part ways with Violet so that they could each find an open place to stay, when a hand suddenly gripped his shoulder. David turned sharply and was surprised by the sudden serious look in Sora's dark eyes.

"Hey David, can... can you do a guy a favor?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly.

Now David was confused. What had gotten the cheerful and helpful Sora so serious?

"Sure, Sora. It's the least I can do for you, for helping us out and everything," he replied sincerely, wanting to help the boy who he already saw as a friend, something he thought would take much longer to happen considering his normally shy personality.

Sora looked David straight in the eyes for a long time and it seemed almost as if he was searching for something. Then the taller boy's eyes shifted to the still-dazed form of Violet a few feet away from them, and he sighed.

"Look, David, my name's Sora Stone, a-" Sora was cut off by a gasp from David, "Stone? As in, _Steven freaking Stone_ and-" this time it was David's turn to be interrupted, "-yeah, Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion. I'm sure there's more than a few people here who know who I am, and that kind-of makes me uncomfortable. My mom says I'm a good judge of character, and you seem like a good person to me, David. I'd much rather room with you than some fanboy who I'll have to sleep with one eye open around." He spoke, a slight heavy tone in his voice. David didn't know how, but he could tell that Sora wouldn't find this such a serious issue unless something similar had already happened _before._

David felt like he could suddenly understand Sora more than anyone he had ever understood before in his life, and as he looked into Sora's vibrant blue eyes, something took shape in David's heart.

'_I want to help him. I want to help Violet. I want to make sure that they won't ever feel threatened or lonely again. I want to protect them,'_

Sora watched as David's eyes glistened and glazed over, before hardening, the emerald-green orbs giving off an aura of intensity.

David placed his hand on Sora's left shoulder, giving it a squeeze as he spoke.

"I'd be more than happy to room with you, Sora. We _are_ friends, after-all. Right?" he spoke with conviction flooding each word and a small smile adorning his face.

Sora could only stand there with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open slightly. Slowly, almost as if he couldn't believe it, his mind began replaying David's words.

'_...more than happy... friends... Sora... right?'_

A grin, a true, joyous grin spread across his face and lit up his electric blue eyes as he heartily shook hands with David.

"Right."

Aaa~aand... awkward pause.

"Well... I guess that explains why your Ditto could transform into a Garchomp without visual reference?" David said awkwardly as he tried to change the topic and defuse the increasingly awkward situation.

Sora blinked blankly at David for a few seconds before he seemed to register the boy's words, and then his mood seemed to perk up instantly.

"Oh, yeah, Prime's been around mom's Garchomp ever since I got him as a birthday present when I was five, and there's a few other Pokémon that he can transform into without visual reference. I guess he's transformed into them so many times he can do it from muscle memory alone?" spoke Sora, slightly unsure whether his last statement was accurate or not.

David only shrugged.

"Guys," Violet's voice called at them, "let's find ourselves a place to stay already!" The two of them turned around to see Violet standing a few feet away next to a bored looking Prime. She was waving at them with one hand and holding her Shiny Eevee, Starlight, in the other. David walked over to her, but Sora stood there for an extra few seconds, simply taking in the sight of the pretty girl who had been beside his new friend David for the entire time he had known them. (Which, admittedly, was a rather short amount of time).

Violet's hair was jet black and tied back in a long ponytail that, from what he could see, reached to the middle of her back. All along her ponytail, from where it was tied up down to the tips, were a multitude of dark, purple streaks that accentuated the shine of her violet eyes almost perfectly.

She was very thin, had a slim waist and was slightly lacking in the 'endowment' department, but even then, she stood slightly taller than David. She was wearing a simple black t-shirt and slightly ripped jeans that clashed well with her sun-kissed skin, showing that she was a person who enjoyed the outdoors. Resting on her hip was a plain beige pouch that, Sora guessed, probably held her Pokéballs.

All-in-all, Sora found her rather pretty, and it took Prime glomping onto his chest for Sora to realize that he'd fallen into a daze whilst staring at Violet.

Thank goodness she hadn't noticed.

What _Sora_ didn't notice, however, was that _David_ had noticed _him_ staring at Violet, and had an odd, undistinguishable look in his eyes.

Mentally shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Sora noticed a sign that looked suspiciously like a map a few paces away from where David and Violet were waiting for him, with the massive, blocky letters 'L-I-_-_-L-_- -_-I-L-L-S-' directly above it.

Clearly, some of the letters were missing. Whether they had fallen off or been forcibly removed would remain a mystery to Sora.

He walked over to the map and began to study it, quickly understanding its importance and purpose.

"David, Violet, come check this out," he called over to them without removing his eyes from the map.

He heard the two fall into step on either side of him and the pointed his index finger at the large board.

"Look, it's a map of the dorm rooms... if they can be called that. We've already passed over here," he pointed to the bottom of the map resembling a quarter slice of pie, "which is a section labelled LH1, which I can only guess is the first 'area' of Little Hills." He explained. Both David and Violet nodded in understanding.

Then Sora pointed farther up into the 'pie slice' to a section labelled LH2, "from what I understand, the dorms in section LH1 are all two-person apartment buildings, and the dorms in section LH2 are the small one-story houses in front of us meant to house four people." Mused Sora. The first two sections of the 'pie slice' took up most of the space, about two-fifths each, leaving the last section, LH3, to spread out along the top, almost like the crust of the pie. Being half the size of the other two sections and spread across the widest portion of the 'pie slice', section LH3 was very thin, but long.

"This section," he explained, "is where we want to end up. Here they have small two-person cottages decked out with everything a person could ask for. And on top of that, they're right on the boardwalk of the only beach on campus!" Sora cried out in excitement, getting identical 'ooh!'s' from the two beside him.

"Sora," David began, "how do you know all of this? I can't find it written anywhere on the map?" That had peaked Violet's interest. She also had a question about the map, but she wanted to hear this first.

"Well, my parents went here when they were young. It's where they met, actually," He told Violet, but he was looking at David with a look in his eyes that said _'don't tell her, not yet'_. Whether David understood Sora's unspoken message or not, he said nothing.

"So then... why's the map split in half by a red and a blue section?" asked Violet, pointing to the most defining characteristic of the map: the fact that is was vertically split in two by being shaded in blue on the left, and shaded in red on the right.

There was a slight pause before David spoke.

"It says here that the blue section is for the boys, and the red section for the girls," he told them, pointing to a small paragraph written in the bottom corner of the board.

Sora nodded in agreement, but Violet's shoulders visibly slumped and her eyes seemed to become gaunt in the rising darkness.

Hm, Sora hadn't noticed that the sun had already begun to set.

"Hey Violet, you alright?" Sora asked, concern clouding his blue eyes. What had happened to the girl who'd been so upbeat and cheerful and excited just a moment ago.

Violet mumbled something so quietly that neither David or Sora had heard her.

"Huh?"

Yeah. That was eloquent.

"What if the girls don't like me?" Violet whispered. She seemed so scared.

Sora laid a hand on her shoulder, a big smile on his face, "They'll love you, I'm sure of it." He told her, and she looked up at him in surprise.

"You really think so?" she asked, her voice still quiet, but stronger than it was before.

"Completely. Right David?" grinned Sora, turning his head at a slightly awkward angle to see his bespectacled friend.

David nodded his belief of the same.

Turning his attention back to Violet, Sora saw a small smile on her face.

"Thanks guys," Violet's voice was thick with emotion as she spoke, "that means a lot to me."

Sora blushed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"It was nothing, really. Anyway, we'll see you at the end of initiation tonight, alright?"

"Alright."

And with that, the three friends split up, Violet heading one way, David and Sora heading the other.

_-King-_

After she had separated from the boys, Violet had walked along the divide between the boys and girls section (a wall that had to be at least fifteen feet tall) until she reached the beach.

From there, she walked to her right, following the slow curve of the boardwalk that separated the small, dark brown wooden cottages from the white sand of the beach. She could see people lounging around and playing on the sand or in the water in the darkening light, and had even received help from a kind student who had seen her looking confusedly at the small red lights on the fronts of each cottage's mailbox.

Apparently, each light was for each cottage's inhabitant. If it was red, someone was already living there. If both were green, then the place was empty. If one was green and one was red, then there was a free room in that cottage.

Violet felt like she had been walking forever as she slowly trudged along the boardwalk, her feet dragging with each step. Starlight had fallen asleep a little while ago, so Violet had returned her to her Pokéball.

Violet didn't know how, but so far _every single _light that she passed was glowing with a steady red shine.

Just as she was about to give up on her search for an empty room and begin heading inland for one of the four-person condos, Violet found salvation.

One, just _one_, little green tinted light among the dozens of red ones.

Suddenly energized by her success, Violet sprinted to the front of the cottage and up the three wooden steps to rest her tired feet on the porch in front of the plain door.

Pulling her forged trainer's card from her pocket (she had no idea how Sunlight had forged a technological object, but she wouldn't question him), and typed the address of the cottage beside her name.

'_7 Boardwalk St.'_

She was startled slightly when a panel opened up from the wall beside the door, revealing a small black screen. With slight hesitation, Violet remembered what Sunlight had told her about the workings of the school and pressed her thumb to the small black screen.

Her vision was filled by a green light for no more than a second before a voice that seemingly came from nowhere spoke to her.

"_Welcome home, student _VIOLET LIGHT_,"_

Violet's smile grew to epic proportions at the words of the electronic voice. She stepped forwards and slowly opened the wooden door, taking her first step into the place that would be her home for the next five years.

Violet's feet were met with a small welcome mat, and she took of her slightly worn trainers and let her bare feet touch the cold hardwood floor. To her right was a washroom, and a small closet was to her left.

The lights were off, so she stumbled forwards and into a small hallway. There was light coming from the living room around the corner on the right, and on her left was the entrance to the white-tile kitchen. She looked into it from the entrance.

Directly across from her was the sink, with a long marble counter on the right side and all of the kitchen appliances on the left, with cabinets above the appliances and below the counter.

She kept moving, turning right into the living room where she could see the back of a comfortable looking cloth couch, a white, thick-woven carpet on the ground and a plasma screen television on at the end of the room. It was playing a movie of some sort, but the volume was off.

"Quit standing there gawking and get your luggage into your room."

Violet nearly had a heart attack when a cold, emotionless voice spoke to her. Looking around, she noticed that there was someone lying down on the couch, a hardcover book in her lap.

She had incredibly long, straight black hair with orange streaks that reminded Violet of the streaks in her own hair, but this girl's hair was not tied into a ponytail. She had fiery, unique orange eyes unlike any Violet had ever seen. She was slim and tall, giving off a look of elegance and grace. The word 'long' came to mind rather quickly.

In fact, she was probably taller than Violet herself.

She was wearing a simple pair of black sweatpants and a plain black nightgown that made no attempt to hide her more-than-impressive bust, especially for someone her age.

She was also pointing to something in the corner of the room, and her words from before came to the forefront of Violet's thoughts.

'_... get your _luggage_ into your room...'_

...

Luggage?

Her luggage! She'd forgotten it when David had... wait, what the heck was going on!

Violet could clearly see _her_ luggage, the luggage that she had forgotten about up until then when David had rushed off by pulling her along after they were dismissed by the third-years, sitting in the corner of the room as if they'd been there the entire time.

If her luggage was here, then someone had to have dropped it off... but how? Did they actually have the ability to find out where students were going to find lodging before the students did themselves!

No, that was impossible, there was no way even a Psychic Pokémon would have been able to-

"It's a transportation system." The girl on the couch spoke.

'_... what? How could she possibly-'_

"I saw them get transported in when you opened the door. They were probably connected to your Trainer Card by a transportation device when you gave the secretary your ID earlier. The trigger was also probably entering the address of where you were staying, so that the luggage would be transported to wherever you found a place to stay." She explained to the dumbfounded Violet, her voice still emotionless.

...

Whoa. Technology was way cooler than she'd originally thought.

...

"Are you just going to stand there all night, or do I have to move your things for you?"

The girl's slightly mean remark jolted Violet into action, and the smaller girl rushed forward to grab her things. She dragged them across the living room and into the hallway that was just to the left of the open-concept kitchen counter.

She came upon two doors, one to the left and one to the right, and a helpful not-quite-shout-but-raising-of-the-voice of 'yours is the left one!' was all that Violet needed.

The room was small. It had a twin bed with white sheets with the headboard up against the right wall and just under the small window that was across from the door. Violet could see the beach and the dark ocean through the tiny portal. Directly to her right when she first walked in was a white dresser with a mirror and a stool, and to her left was a closet with a small bookshelf in the far corner of the room.

It was perfect.

She set her things down, not bothering to take anything out yet, and looked over at the clock sitting on the dresser.

9:37, not even ten minutes until they'd all be called to the Coliseum for the final step of their initiation.

Heading out of her bedroom and back out to the living room, Violet stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before taking a deep breath to steady her sudden nerves.

"Um... excuse me..." she began, not knowing how to address the girl lying on the couch.

"It's proper etiquette to introduce oneself before asking for the name of another," the girl had an odd speech pattern, but violet wasn't one to judge.

"My name's Violet." She said with a voice just slightly above a whisper, a little put-off by the girl's intimidating and emotionless nature.

That is, until the girl began to chuckle softly. Then Violet began to get angry.

'_Who does this girl think she is, laughing at my name! Why I outta-'_

"Have you ever read this book before?" said the girl as she waved the book above the edge of the couch so that Violet could see it.

"No, I haven't," ground Violet, her jaw locked tightly.

"It's called _The Purple Flower_, but in old Kalosian, the nationality of the author, it is called _'La Fleur Violet'_. I simply found it ironic, that my name is Fleur, and yours is Violet."

'_... oh...'_

Then Fleur sighed.

"It seems I lost track of the time once again. There is no way we will be able to reach the Coliseum by foot in fifteen minutes time," she spoke seemingly to herself.

'_Oh no, I hadn't thought of that! How am I going to get to the Coliseum on time! I don't want to make a bad impression, that'll mean that the teachers won't like me!'_ Violet began panicking as she continued thinking to herself.

Then Fleur came to save the day.

"Do you not have a Pokémon that can take you to the coliseum on time?" asked Fleur, still speaking with her odd emotionless tone.

Violet only shook her head.

Fleur seemed to be having an internal debate for quite a while, before one side seemingly won out.

"Staraptor should be able to carry the both of us. Do keep in mind that the only reason that I am helping you is because leaving you here would only cause more trouble in the future. The fact that you haven't overly annoyed me yet is beneficial to you as well." Fleur flipped her hair slightly before brushing past her roommate and outside into the cold night air, leaving a very confused Violet behind.

'_... wait, what?'_

_-King-_

_**An/ **_And here is chapter three! Quick shout-out to **Roses and the internet** for her character Fleur, to **Unbiased Abyss** for the helpful reviews, they are _very_ much appreciated! I'd also like to thank everyone else who has reviewed, you people make my day!

ADD moment, it's 11:11!

Lol.

Anyway, hurras for the long-er chapter! So, who liked my Fleur-Violet interaction? Oh, and just in case some people haven't figured it out yet (but I really hope you have, considering the place that Kalos was based around) 'Old Kalosian' is French.

_On the next installment of FAME:_ The Twitch – initiation, explanation and _"Oh my God, It's HIM!"_ ... fan girls. _*shudders*_

_**-King**_


	4. The Twitch

_**F.A.M.E.**_

_**By King**_

_**Chapter 2 – The Twitch**_

**IMPORTANT NOTE – While I love the fact that everyone's so enthusiastic about my story (and I can't thank you guys enough), the story will get a little bland if all the characters I receive are the shy, anti-social type. It's difficult enough to write more than one shy character, and I think the story would be more interesting if there was a little more diversity in the characters. ALSO: you guys don't have to limit yourselves to submitting one character, if you want to create another, just send me a PM! They don't have to be super detailed or anything, but a story isn't a story without side-characters.**

**OH! I'd also like to ask if some of you would be willing to submit professors for the next chapter! I would really appreciate it if you did!**

**Again, thanks to everyone for reviewing! **

**Now, to respond to some of those reviews:**

**Snowsheba**: I have no idea how to use the transition line system. SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!

(*cough*)

Excuse me.

**Unbiased Abyss:** Okay, I know I'm making Twitch's Dragonite seem ultra-rare... but think about it for a second. Pretty much the only people with access to a Dragonite in-game are Elite Four members, Champions, and the character themselves, who are _far_ from an ordinary person. To regular people, many of the more powerful Pokémon are seen as myth or legend due to the fact that most never encounter, or even hear about one, throughout their entire lifetime. Also, realize that very few people have access to a Pokédex, so the only information a normal person has on a Pokémon is from word-of-mouth or the fact that they own the Pokémon and have studied it.

It's just something to think about.

**LeafyLucario64:** I know I already PM-ed you about this, but I didn't realize the connection to Twitch plays Pokémon and my character being nicknamed Twitch. Simply based on the title of this chapter, you'll soon understand why this is his nickname. Oh, and shout-out to anyone who's experienced the chaos of TPP!

_-King-_

Violet sighed happily at the serene feeling of the wind working its way through her tangled locks of pitch-black hair. It felt so good that she was almost tempted to release her hair from its elastic bonds, but thought better of it.

She didn't want to have a tangled mess of hair to deal with after landing.

Violet gazed at the masses of people moving like a colony of ants below her with a small smile on her face. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before, having lived a sheltered life in the forest with only the Pokémon and nature as her companions.

Fleur's Staraptor had to be a rather powerful Pokémon, given by the fact that the only other Pokémon flying higher than the two of them was the rare Pidgeot or Charizard.

There was also the fact that they were flying just under the lowest cloud formation around, and Violet could see the lights of the buildings all the way in Block's A and B shining like fallen stars in the darkness of the night.

Flying below the two roommates was a plethora of people and Pokémon, all heading towards the same destination: Fame Coliseum.

Flying just above the tall apartment buildings of Little Hills' first sector were the odd flying type Pokémon and their trainer. Some could be seen weaving their way in between the tall, grey apartment complexes, or flying high above them to get a view of the campus.

Below these 'high flyers' were the hundreds of students at FAME making their way to the Coliseum. To Violet, they looked very much like a colony of Durant that she had once encountered.

People could be seen running through the winding streets of the fist sector, either alone or with a Pokémon by their side.

Others were traveling the crowded roads atop the back of a Pokémon, and Violet could spot the hulking form of a Torterra near the middle of the pack.

Tearing her eyes away from the mesmerizing sight below her Violet sighed in bliss at finally having some time to just relax and let her thoughts wander.

The day had been passing by so quickly that she hadn't had the time to realize just how _much_ had happened.

She'd snuck into the airport with her dirty clothes and picked out her outfit (and multiples of the outfit for later-on) from one of the outlets in the massive structure. She had wandered around until someone had helped her find the special plane she was looking for and took a seat as far away from other people as she could.

The plane had begun to fill up until, eventually; it was inevitable that another person sat beside her. She tried not to take notice of him, but it was hard not to with his short stature and odd, shaggy white hair.

She had tried to ignore him... but Starlight just _had_ to point out that she was being anti-social and rude to the clearly shy boy. Little had Violet known that this would spark her first human interaction and help her create her first bond with someone that wasn't a Pokémon.

From there, the day seemed to take on the qualities of a movie stuck on fast-forward.

They fought, bonded, and then the plane landed.

They were introduced to the campus.

They had their ID's confirmed and were given back their luggage's.

They were introduced to the third years, and the guy with the rare Dragonite named Twitch.

They were told they'd have to claim their own room, and that the first ones to get to Little Hills would get the best pick at a room.

She and David met Sora, made a new friend, and technically owed him the rooms that they were now staying in for the rest of their time here at the school.

She had found what was probably the last 'open' room in the best section of the dorms and had met her roommate Fleur.

All of this leading up to where she was now, lounging on the back of her roommate's large Staraptor, and all of it transpiring in a single day.

While Violet reminisced about the happenings of the day, she failed to notice Staraptor's slow descent through the sky as they closed in on the massive Coliseum lit up by a multitude of pink and orange lights.

_(Meanwhile ~)_

"Ah~!" cried the panicked voice of fourteen year old David Johnson as his eyes rolled over the flashing time displayed on the clock beside his new bed.

They were late.

They were very, _very_ late!

"Sora~" David's yell echoed throughout the confines of the small cottage-like home as he tumbled off the edge of his new bed and barreled through his doorway and into the hall.

He heard Sora scream in surprise and jolt up from his position lying on the couch, only for him to then fall off the side of it.

The television was playing a muted Pokémon battle from last year's league Lilly of the Valley Conference in the background.

"David, what the heck is _wrong_ with you? I was sorta, kinda, you-know, _sleeping!_" Sora's grouchy griping would have normally put David into a minor fit of shame, but it just so happens that the poor boy was panicking almost to the point of hyperventilation.

"We're late! We need to be at the Fame Coliseum in _five minutes!_" David's voice had very nearly gained another octave as he tried to throw on a light jacket to keep out the frisk night air and slam on his beat-up running shoes in the process.

David simply sat there beside the couch where he had fallen, his mind unable to process concrete information so soon after being woken.

And then, as if hit by a Shinx's Thundershock, David could see Sora's silver (and somehow still perfectly groomed in a left-side curtain) hair emerge from beside the couch, followed by the rest of his scrambling body.

David bolted out of the cottage, the front door banging against the outer wall behind him, and Sora flew out hot on his heels.

Running side-by-side down the empty side-roads, Sora frantically rapped on David's much slimmer arm.

"David, I just thought of something," he huffed as he yanked David to a stop, the both of them leaning their palms on their knees as they gasped for much-needed air.

"What is it, Sora?" asked David through his pants, his green-rimmed glasses fogging over due to perspiration mixing with the frigid air coming in from the sea.

Taking a few deep breaths to compose himself, Sora flicked a Pokéball into his right hand from the specialized bracelet around his wrist.

"Prime, transform into an Arcanine!" he called, his faithful blob of a Pokémon following his command instantly upon release.

Even in his confusion, David took note that the transformed Pokémon's face did not quite resemble that of an Arcanine. In fact, it looked more like a Ditto's face than anything.

'_Well, I guess he _can't_ just perfectly transform into anything he wanted to. Interesting...'_

"Hop on!"

Sora's shout broke David from his reverie, and he let himself be pulled onto the back of the majestic (transformed) canine.

"Sora, what-" David's question was cut off by Sora issuing a command to his Pokémon.

"Prime," his tone was overly dramatic, but David still couldn't help the slight shiver of anticipation that ran through him, "... _Extreemspeed!_"

The transformed Arcanine shot off so quickly that he left an after-image of the three of them behind.

All David could see was mixed green, white and blue blur as they shot past, over and around buildings. They were moving so quickly that it was only a few moments before everything turned into a solid blob of grey all around him.

David didn't even realize he was screaming until they stopped, and it took Sora railing him in the gut (with a surprisingly powerful right hook for his seemingly fragile and elegant frame) for David to stop.

One panting and the other somehow without a single wrinkle on his spotless white button-up shirt, the two friends walked through the glass doors in the side of the Coliseum, and found themselves in the lobby of a Pokémon Center.

This was how Violet found them, and the three began catching up on the happenings after they had split up. To any onlooker, they'd have thought the three had been friends for years, the way they interacted with each other.

Sora was laughing uproariously at a joke David had made, David had a light smile and happy blush on his face, and Violet was trying not to choke on her own saliva as she roared along with Sora.

Fleur was glaring at the three of them from across the room. She was in a corner of the lobby, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed under her chest.

'_Tch, people... bonds... they disgust me. All of you, you're all the same!'_ her thoughts screamed in hidden anger and fury at the people surrounding her.

She was furious at the people around her, laughing, bonding and enjoying themselves... and she was too afraid to admit why.

Her thoughts were quickly falling into a darkening spiral as her mood grew worse with every passing second. Memories that she'd been trying to repress for years were beginning to surface, and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

However, she was saved from taking a dip in the 'River Past' by the young woman with the Honchcrow from before. She was standing atop the healing counter in the center of the lobby (and receiving a rather heated glare from the Head Nurse Joy) and was holding a megaphone up to her lips.

"_**First years, can I have your attention for just a moment!"**_ her voice echoed through the lobby, and despite all of the previous chaotic chatter that had been transpiring just seconds before, all managed to go quiet instantaneously. _**"First and foremost, welcome to FAME!"**_

There was a loud cheer in response to her words, and Fleur could see Violet sitting next to the boys with odd hair, one white and the other silver, smiling and clapping and laughing along with them.

"_**Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here,"**_ there was a murmur of agreement, _**"and **_**boy**_** do we have a treat for you!"**_ There was another round of clapping and cheers. _**"Alright! I want everyone to line up in front of the door beside me! Nurse Joy will give you a ticket with a letter and numbers on it... don't lose it, 'cause that's where you'll be sitting! Go!"**_ Her voice didn't even have the chance to echo through their minds before there mass a rush of sweaty and tired bodies trampling towards the large metal doors in the corner of the lobby farthest from Fleur.

_(With Violet, David and Sora: David's POV -)_

Somehow the three of us had found our way to the first row of the Coliseum stands, with Sora sitting on my right and Violet on his. All around us was the sound of people chattering and trying to find their way through the dark stands.

There were beams of pink and orange light flashing through the sky above them, randomly highlighting parts of the crowd for the faintest of seconds before moving on to shine their light on the night sky once more.

Sora seemed to be yelling something at me, but I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I leaned forwards, straining my ears to hear him, but I still couldn't hear what he was-

Without warning my world became an array of multicolored stars and lights as my nose exploded in pain. Cradling my head at the sudden massive headache was all I could manage as my brain tried to register and digest the sudden throbbing pain.

'_Ow... what just happened?'_ I thought to myself as I clutched a hand to my nose, instantly feeling blood pouring over my fingers and down my palm.

I opened my eyes blearily through the pain and started to panic when all I could see was a large mass of blurs surrounding me on all sides.

That is, until I realized that my glasses had fallen off.

'_Okay, okay, it's fine... just calm down. Calm down David, you can do it.'_

I inhaled deeply, and almost jolted in surprise when a light, breezy, earthy scent, almost like the smell of freshly cut grass, filled my senses like explosion of... _awareness_.

'_What?'_

It was then that I began to realize there was more to my current situation than missing glasses and a bloody nose.

There was a light pressure on my thighs and chest, something that I couldn't identify.

My head was leaning back over the edge of my seat, my nose and forehead throbbing where it had rammed into something, and the back of my head smarting where it had come into contact with the knees of the person sitting above me in the stands.

My right elbow was up in the air, with my right hand pressed firmly into my profusely bleeding nose.

My left arm was crushed between my body and the thing that was pressing against my chest.

My left hand, palm facing away from my body, was completely enveloped in a soft warmth unlike anything I had ever felt before.

I moved my bloody right hand slowly, trailing it across my face to assess if there was any extra damage, only to realize that my glasses hadn't actually fallen off because of the impact; they were just resting on the crown of my head.

Pulling my green-rimmed glasses back into position, my vision finally came into focus, albeit being slightly hampered by the bloody smear in the corner of the right lens.

Painfully, I brought my head forward to the point where my chin was digging into my chest in a slow, languid motion.

I found myself staring into the most beautiful pair of eyes I had ever seen in my life; the most enrapturing pools of molten amber that positively glowed in the reflection of the stars above.

She had sandy brown hair that hung in her eyes, but I couldn't tell how long it was because it was covered by a hood the color of the soft sand that rested no more than ten feet from Sora's and my new home.

It took me by surprise when I realized that, woven into the top of her hood, were a pair of pointy, light brown ears.

The word 'cute' immediately found its way to the forefront of my mind.

"U-uhm... c-could you please let go of my b-b-breast?" I saw the girl's cute pink lips move, but my brain refused to acknowledge the words coming out of them.

'_Her... breast...?'_

My eyes trailed further down. The girl had somehow managed her way into my lap, her legs spread on either side of my own with her knees resting on the sides of my seat. Her body was crushed uncomfortably against mine, and her chest was...

... was...

'_So this is what a woman's 'asset' feels like...'_

_-King-_

Ironically enough, I found out that her name was Amber.

Fitting.

After an increasingly awkward introduction, we found out that Amber and her incredibly beautiful red-headed friend (who had Sora blushing like a tomato) were sitting in the two seats to my left.

They had been trying to make their way through the aisle when Sandy, Amber's Sandshrew, had stopped to look at the 'pretty lights' in the Coliseum, and Amber had tripped over the little Pokémon, having been distracted by the very same 'pretty lights'.

After disentangling ourselves (and nearly getting torn to shreds by the red-head, apparently named Jennifer, for 'perv-ing' on Amber), the two had introduced themselves.

Amber was the very definition of 'happy'. She had a huge grin plastered on her face (which was more than augmented by the fact that she was wearing a hood – with ears – to match the adorable Sandshrew sitting atop her head) and spoke animatedly, which included lots of hand gestures.

Lots and _lots_ of hand gestures.

On top of all this, Amber was very, _very_ short.

Heck, I doubted she was even five feet tall.

And, to make matters even worse (or better, depending on your point of view), was the fact that she was disproportionate.

Her large assets (for her age, at least) were only more pronounced by the fact that they should _not_ have found themselves on the body of such a petite girl.

My left hand could more than attest to that.

Jennifer, the red-head who was apparently Amber's best friend, was the girl's complete opposite.

Where Amber was 'happy' and 'cute', Jennifer was 'cool' and 'cold'. Jennifer had long copper hair that reached her waist, wore a mid-riff white tank-top covered by an open jean jacket, and the shortest pair of jean shorts I'd ever seen. (Like the Black/White female character, except with a mid-riff white tank, not a normal white tank.)

When they were done, Sora introduced himself, myself and Violet, partially due to the fact that he was clearly trying to gain Jennifer's attention, partially because I was still redder than a cherry and couldn't speak due to my embarrassment.

Amber ended up taking the seat directly to my left and began trying to engage me in conversation, but still couldn't find the willpower to talk to the poor girl after what had happened.

Just when it looked like it was getting to the point where she would begin to be put-off by my silence, the lights went out, bathing us in total darkness.

I was more than glad that she could no longer see the fact that I was turning into a nervous pile of mush under the gaze of her brilliant eyes.

Taking a few, calming breaths, I slowed my heartbeat so that I could focus on what was happening around me.

"_**Welcome, First Years, to one of the oldest traditions of Fame's Battle Program! The Ranks!"**_ the announcer's voice echoed throughout the stadium and was received by a chorus of loud cheers.

"_**On the challenger's side, I'd like you all to give a warm welcome for The Wild King, Allen Savage!"**_ the crowd roared in approval as a boy, probably seventeen or eighteen years old, walked out onto a raised podium on the right side of the arena.

Looking up at the Jumbotron hanging in the middle of the Stadium, I got to see a close up of Allen. He had a white snap-back with a blue bill and white Pokéball insignia covering average-looking brown hair, and was wearing an unzipped olive-green hoodie over a white t-shirt with average blue jeans.

As he walked out an eerie violin piece was playing in the background and he was positively bathed in a purple glow, courtesy of a multitude of spot-lights that were trained on his position. (Lavender Town Theme)

He reached the podium, the music stopped... and then everything went black again.

The whole stadium went quiet in anticipation as a chilling wind swept through the stadium. The silence began to stretch out making me feel on-edge as I looked around, trying to spot something, _anything_ in the consuming darkness.

And then I heard it. A light whistling sound, barely audible even in the total silence.

It was faint at first, and I almost dismissed it as not being there... until the noise began to get louder.

... and louder...

... and louder...

... almost... as if something was... _falling?_

Instantly I looked up, and my heart jumped into my throat when I found that there was a _star_ falling from the _sky!_

_And it was heading right for us!_

'_Wait a minute...' _I thought to myself, _'that isn't a star... that's-'_

My thoughts were interrupted by an explosion of sound coming from the speakers set up all over the stadium, and it wasn't long before I recognized the song that was filling the ears and minds of everyone in the stands.

_Crazy Train._

The guitar riff for the song began blaring through the campus as a Dragonite and its rider hurtled toward the stadium at over one hundred miles an hour while wreathed in sickly green flames.

They hit the dirt in a whirlwind of green flame that covered the entire left half of the arena, Crazy Train still blasting our eardrums.

Slowly, as if a phantom come to play in the night, a shadow appeared in the dispersing flames. It stalked forwards with a slow, confident gait before finally breaking through the whirling wall of green flame.

His entire right side was covered in a sickly green cape, the ends charred and smoldering, and it was held in on his shoulder by a golden armored shoulder piece with a single curved spike jutting out to the side. Underneath, he wore a golden button-up shirt, and had sickly green jeans with golden stitching with the bottoms tucked into a pair of golden combat boots.

Covering the right side of his face was a mask shaped to look like protrusions on the side of the head of a Rayquaza (even though most people didn't know that the great Pokémon even existed, let alone what it looked like.)

"_**He's faster than fast, cooler than cool, and you all know he's the best-of-the-best, welcome, Battlemaster Trevor 'Twitch' Martin!"**_

The crowd went wild.

'_And,'_ I had to admit, _'so did I.'_

"_**Now let's get, this, **_**party, STARTED!"**

"Let's go, Gengar!" Allen was the first to call his Pokémon, sending out the Ghost/Poison type that was made famous by the Kanto Elite Agatha.

"Come on out Charlie!" called Twitch, tossing a Pokéball high into the air. It released a beam of red energy that quickly morphed into the unmistakable shape of a Typhlosion. The fire type roared at the night sky as healthy red flames jetted from its back.

The battle was on, with Gengar instantly attempting to hit Charlie with a **Hypnosis** attack. The Typhlosion dodged by rolling out of the way with a flame wheel.

It tore across the flat dirt field with a vengeance, uncurling and pouncing towards the floating Gengar with its teeth aflame.

Just as it looked like the **Fire Fang** would connect with Allen's Gengar, Charlie took a **Sucker Punch** to the face, sending him careening through the dirt.

Allen called for Gengar to perform **Hypnosis** once more, but again the attack missed its target. Charlie rolled out of the way of the hypnotic rings until he managed to find purchase, and then followed Twitch's command for a **Flamethrower** attack.

Gengar took the jet of flame directly to the face, but managed to shake off the powerful attack. Backing off, Allen told Gengar to use **Shadow Sneak**, and the ghost Pokémon managed to position itself behind the Typhlosion.

Twitch, however, had anticipated this move from Allen, and yelled at Charlie to use a **Fire Punch** behind his back.

Twitch was too late in noticing Allen's confident smirk.

"Charlie, watch out!" he called out in distress, and his fears were confirmed when, instead of dodging, Gengar caught Charlie's flaming par in his own hand.

"**Hypnosis!**" commanded Allen, and Charlie was hit with the attack from point-blank range, making him fall asleep instantly.

"No, Charlie!"

"Gengar, **Dream Eater!**"

Charlie screamed in his sleep, clawing at his face to try and fend off the horrifying nightmare. Standing like the reaper himself above the weakened Typhlosion was Gengar, who was relishing in his opponent's pain.

Up in the stands, David was sitting on the edge of his seat as he marvelled at the intensity of the battle. Beside him, Amber was curled up on her seat as her eyes were wide in fear at the ferocity in the Pokémon's movements.

Three seats away, Violet was in a similar situation. Having never seen a Pokémon battle between trainers before, let alone trainers with such powerful Pokémon and skill, the speed and power of the Pokémon had taken her by surprise.

Back to the battle at hand, it looked like Twitch's Typhlosion was about to succumb to Gengar's **Dream Eater** when...

"_**CHARLIE!**_"

Jolting from his horrid slumber, Charlie looked around blearily and saw the vague outline of the Gengar he'd been fighting.

Without a command from Twitch, Charlie fired off another powerful **Flamethrower** that nailed Gengar, sending him flying across the field.

Charlie shook his head to rid himself of any leftover grogginess and pawed the ground in anger.

How dare this _petty_ ghost injure him?

The crowd watched, amazed, as Charlie was enveloped in a fluctuating red aura.

His **Blaze** ability was kicking in.

Enraged, Gengar attacked the glowing Typhlosion without a command from his trainer, his stubby hand glowing as he prepared a **Sucker Punch**.

Lunging forwards, Gengar missed as Charlie followed his trainer's command to jump. Still in the air, Charlie tilted forwards until he was perpendicular to the ground, and directly above the confused form of Gengar.

"**Eruption!**"

One could almost see Allen's face pale as his long-time partner Gengar was engulfed in a veritable explosion of rock and flame from the force of Charlie's attack.

The exhausted Typhlosion hit the dirt rolling until he eventually held himself steady down on one knee. His eyes narrowed as he gazed into the slowly dispersing dust cloud in front of him, before sighing in relief at the prone form of Gengar lying in a crater with swirls in his eyes.

"Gengar is unable to continue, Typhlosion is the winner!" the ref yelled from the sidelines, eliciting a cheer from crowd as they marveled at the intense battle.

Waiting for the crowd to calm down before speaking, the ref continued.

"Round two, begin!"

"Rhydon, let's take him out!" cried Allen as he tossed a Pokéball into the air.

Twitch coldly analyzed the grey tank facing off against his bruised and battered Typhlosion, his demeanor far different from earlier in the day.

"Charlie, try and tough this one out, alright?" His response was a determined cry and a small spurt of flame.

David watched in awe as the battle between the two Titanic (in his opinion) trainers and their Pokémon.

Rhydon ended up defeating Charlie.

Twitch called out an odd, blue colored Tyrantrum that gave Allen's poor Rhydon no mercy.

Allen called on a powerful-looking Cloyster that, despite the fact that it knew Ice Beam, was barely able to hold its own against the ancient Dinosaur Pokémon.

Twitch called on his own Gengar, and finished off Allen's Cloyster quickly.

Allen came out with a Raichu that fought like a wild animal, but still could not get past Twitch's powerful Gengar.

Then Allen called on his Hitmonchan, surprising Gengar with a powerful **Ice Punch – Thunder Punch** combo.

Next, Twitch called on his trusted partner, Zeus the Arcanine, who quickly did-away with Allen's Hitmonchan.

That's when things began to get serious.

Allen was down to his last Pokémon.

Twitch still had three left.

The next battle was intense, and those in the stands couldn't believe the sheer tenacity and determination that Zeus showed against his opponent.

After all, it's not every day that a Pokémon gets up after a **Dragon Rush** from a Dragonite, let alone three.

By the time Zeus succumbed to his injuries, Allen's Dragonite was breathing hard and could barely keep itself in the air

After calling back Zeus into his Pokéball, most in the stands could see (due to the jumbotron) Trevor's hand Twitch towards the Pokéball hanging from a chain around his neck. It looked like he was physically restraining himself from grabbing the odd, green and golden Pokéball, and instead moved his hand to grasp the last Pokéball hiding on the inside of his coat.

Twitch called out his most famous Pokémon; his Dragonite.

The next match was obscenely one-sided. Twitch's Dragonite didn't even need to use a Dragon-type move to defeat Allen's smaller, slower and weaker Dragonite, resorting only to using **Extremespeed** to batter its opponent into submission.

The stands went wild, their cheers drowning out the celebratory music as Twitch recalled his Dragonite, turned around, and walked out of the Stadium with his head held high.

David sat on the edge of his seat, the adrenaline coursing through his veins almost making him vibrate in place while Sora hopped up and down in circles, pumping his fist into the air as he cheered.

Though it took some time, the Third Years managed to calm down the younger students, before they began escorting them back to Little Hills so everyone could get some rest for the upcoming day.

On the way back, David, Violet and Sora were talking.

_-King-_

"I've never seen anything like that in my life! Wild Pokémon battles are nothing compared to that!" Violet spoke breathlessly, her eyes still slightly crazed from the rush of the battle.

David wasn't any better. He was still jittery from the intense excitement and adrenaline.

Sora, however, seemed to be doing fine.

It probably came from growing up with a Champion and Ex-Champion as parents and a bunch of Elite Four as pseudo Aunts and Uncles.

The three continued to chatter for as long as they could, only separating once they reached the split in the 'boys' section and 'girls' section of the upper row of Little Hills.

The boys made their way 'home' and had no trouble falling asleep the seconds after their heads hit their pillows.

By the time Violet had made her way to the tiny cottage-like home that she shared with her roommate Fleur, she was practically sleep walking.

Entering the cottage, Violet found all of the lights off and Fleur's door closed.

Figuring that the girl was already asleep, Violet entered her won room and fell onto her bed without changing out of her day clothes.

She never noticed her roommate lying on the couch, staring emptily through the darkness at the ceiling.

_-King-_

**AN**/ Woo~! I've finally finished this chapter! 5000 words! _5000_ WORDS! Even if it's a week late, I still think that's pretty impressive.

Although, listening to fast-paced Nightcore helped write this, especially the battle scene.

Tell me what you guys think of that, by the way! I like feed-back!

Alright, even though this epic-length chapter introduced two more important characters, I still feel like it was kind-of filler-ish.

Do you guys feel like it was filler-ish? *shrug*

Anyway, don't worry. The plot will thicken in the next chapter, for sure.

Oh, and if anyone wants to take a shot at drawing some of the characters, go right ahead! I would love to see what you guys interpret their appearances as.

_On the next installment of FAME: _Meet the King – The Beginning of Something Special!

_**-King**_


	5. Meet the King

_**F.A.M.E.**_

_**By King**_

_**Author's Note: **_**Holy crap! I haven't updated in over a month! I'd apologize, but I honestly have no excuse. I literally just hadn't written the next chapter for the story, but... it's here now, so enjoy. This is going to be a sort-of double update, which is really just two separate updates within (hopefully) three-ish days of each other. This one's a little bit smaller than the earlier chapter, so I hope I don't disappoint.**

_**Chapter 3 – Meet the King!**_

_-King-_

David and Sora sat next to each other near the back of the classroom, chattering away excitedly. It was the first day of classes, and their teacher had yet to arrive.

"Hey David, what do you think the teacher will be like?" Sora asked his friend, their heads bent together over their desks. (This had the effect of making them look decidedly more suspicious than they were meant to be.)

"I don't know? Why do you ask?" David was confused by his friend's question. How was he supposed to know what their teacher looked like?

"How 'bout we play a game? Whoever has the closest guess to what our teacher will look like, wins," Sora had a grin stretching across his cheeks, and his eyes were squinted slightly in his mirth.

David seemed to ponder it for a moment, before he gave Sora a funny, side-long glance.

"Okay, but how about we raise the stakes?" He whispered conspiratorially.

"Alright, like what?" Sora asked his white-haired friend.

"Loser has to do the dishes for a week!"

If anything, Sora's grin got even wider.

The two shook hands.

"Deal."

...

"Alright, you go first," said David.

"What? Why me?" Whined the silver-haired boy, making David laugh.

"You suggested the game, so you go first," he prodded, prompting another whine from Sora.

"Alright, alright, fine. I bet the teacher's going to be fat, and pretty short to. He'll be a guy, with short greasy hair and thick nerdy glasses. He'll know _everything_ about Pokémon battling, and act like he's a king because of it, but he'll be really lame," Sora whispered to David, the both of them laughing at his description.

"Ok, I think the teacher's going to be a woman. She'll be really tall, wear tall red heels and a red dress, and be super-strict. She'll even wear red lipstick, and like to tease the boys, but then hand out detentions when they get the answers to her questions wrong," Even as he spoke, David could only hope that they wouldn't have a teacher like that.

"Man, I hope not, that would totally suck."

Apparently, he and Sora shared the same sentiments.

"Oh how about-" began Sora, but he was cut off by a raspy voice coming from the front of the classroom.

"Settle down now, students,"

Most teachers have trouble getting their classes to calm down and listen to their lessons, even more so on the first day of school. The students were always so excited that they tended to be slightly disrespectful.

This teacher had no such problems. With only his voice, the entire class had gone quiet that Sora could hear David breathing calmly beside him.

"My name is Aidan King. You will refer to me as; Professor, Professor King, Mr, King, or My Lord, and nothing else."

Neither Sora, nor David, could tell whether he was joking or not, and that made them slightly nervous.

Although... it could have also been the man's appearance that made them nervous. He looked more like one of those Hunters you hear about from old Pokémon Legends, not a Professor at a prestigious school!

The guy was tall, very tall, standing at around six feet five inches. His arms looked like pythons, but he wasn't barrel-chested, making him look agile _and_ powerful. He had crimson-red hair tied in a low ponytail that reached the middle of his back, with a single bang that lifted slightly before falling across his nose.

He was wearing a pair of Ray-bans, even inside the classroom, and even from his position at the back of the class, Sora could see a thick scar that ran from just below his hairline, through his right eye, down his cheek, and stopped when it reached his jaw.

The Professor was also wearing a pair of desert camouflage pants, was barefoot, and was wearing a desert camouflage vest without a shirt underneath.

His hands were covered by black leather gloves that had the fingers torn off.

He looked more like a military sergeant than their Battle Theory Professor.

Sora voiced his concerns to David, wondering if they were going to learn a single thing about battle theory with this guy as their teacher, but Professor King was quick to put Sora's doubts to rest.

_-King-_

By the time they left class, Sora couldn't wait to see what tomorrow's lesson would bring.

"Hey," Sora suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, then turned to look at David, "what happened to our bet?" He asked his friend, an accusatory glint in his eye.

"O-oh, uh, n-nothing at all Sora, i-it was just a joke, r-right?" he stuttered, his hands becoming clammy and sweat making its way onto his brow.

"Nuh-uh! You're just saying that because my bet was closer! He wasn't greasy or fat, but at least I didn't think he was a girl! On top of that, he really _does_ know, like, everything about Battle Theory!"

Before David could stop Sora, his friend blurted out the thing he had been dreading since their Professor had walked into the classroom.

"You have to do the dishes for a week!" Laughed Sora.

David only sighed in resignation before heading for his next class.

_-King-_

"Hhgn_yaahhh~_"

David looked blankly at Sora as the boy gave a yawn/stretch of epic proportions that left him blinking tears out of his eyes.

Violet tried to hold in her giggles, but failed when she let out a bemused snort.

David couldn't help but grin at the pre-teens lazing around him; this was the life! It was late Friday night; the lot of them had finished their classes for the day, and had none over the weekend, so they had all gotten together to laze-about.

Earlier during the week, whilst he and Sora had been searching for a 'pad' to make their home, they had wandered past the edges of the dorm area, and into a thick copse of palm trees.

There, they stumbled upon a small, rickety wooden cottage; literally just a box of wooden planks put together into a shabby construct. They would have mistaken it for a large tool shed had it not been for the tiny, rickety balcony on the side facing the ocean (which they could just barely see through the tick undergrowth.)

The sand from the beach extended all the way into the small clearing (which barely had enough room to fit the tiny cottage), and covered everything in a grainy, yet oddly comforting atmosphere.

With the help of the three girls, they had come out here once more during the week to string up a couple of hammocks inside the cottage.

While clearing it out (for there had been towers of junk lining the walls), they had deduced that it had once been a place for students of years past to store their surfboards and other swimming menagerie, but had been abandoned and forgotten about in favor of a more technologically advanced storage area closer to the beach.

Once it had been rid of the spiders, still with some of the junk lining the walls; the odd noodle sticking out of a box here, a small globe, lopsided and worn, resting atop another, Sora had aptly decided to name the cottage 'The Shack'.

The group of five had been proud of their work, and while standing just inside the creaky wooden door (which was literally just a few planks of wood that had been nailed together and stuck on a pair of hinges), David had had an epiphany.

Something was missing.

That something was found the very next day when Sora and David had stumbled upon an old Janitor house in the more abandoned section of the Education section of campus.

A solar-powered mini-fridge.

It was perfect, they fit it just beneath the single window at the back of the Shack and stocked it with the many different kinds of pop that they found in the fridges of their own dorms.

And so, David found himself smiling nonsensically at the four people around him; his friends.

Sora was splayed out on the hammock strung across the back right corner of the Shack, a can of Orange Crush in one hand and his Smartphone in the other.

He himself was taking up the hammock opposite Sora, on the left of the door, but was hanging upside-down with his hair brushing the sandy wooden floorboards and his legs crossed and propped up against the wall in the corner. He was slowly swinging the hammock back-and-forth, his elbows resting comfortably on the edge.

Sandy, Amber's Sandshrew, was raiding the mini-fridge, and Amber herself was curled up against the wall right beside him. She sat with her legs crossed, still dressed in her ear-tipped hoodie even though it was an absolute _scorcher_ outside, while she perused over a Johtish comic of some sort. It was odd, and apparently had to be read from back-to-front.

Jennifer was sitting against the back wall, beside the mini-fridge, and was playing a low, jazzy ditty on a harmonica she'd found in one of the boxes.

Violet had her head in Jennifer's lap, her eyes covered by a beige, Western Cowboy hat she'd found; the lower half of her body beneath Sora's hammock.

Life was perfect.

For now...

_-King-_

'_WHAT?!'_

David almost gave himself a headache with the ferocity of his mental cry, but he could see the very same thing going through Sora's and Violet's heads.

A small part of his mind wondered when they'd gotten close enough that he could tell what they were thinking just by seeing the changes in their expressions.

He could though; he could tell Violet was panicking by the way her eyes were opened slightly wider and rapidly flitted across the room; as if looking for a way out.

He could tell Sora was freaking out because he was biting his cheek, running his hand through his silver-grey hair periodically, and his right knee was bouncing.

Once they'd settled into a routine and gotten used to their schedules – about two weeks into the beginning of the first term – Sora, Violet and himself had set out to find something to do other than laze about in their free time; even if it had become one of their favorite things to do.

So, they had gone in search for clubs; because what school didn't have clubs?

They came up empty handed.

Not for lack of clubs, no, the school was full of them, but because they either didn't like what a club had to offer, didn't like the people in and/or running the club, or the club had no room for them.

So, it came as a heart-stopping terror to the three of them when it was announced, on the first day of the fourth week of first term, that it was mandatory, _mandatory_, for students to join a cub; or they'd be asked to leave.

They only had one week to do something about their predicament.

He needed to talk with Sora and Violet, _now_.

_-King-_

"What are we going to do?" Violet visibly panicked as she paced back and forth across the small space in the middle of the Shack. She was alternating between nervously wringing her hands, and nervously twirling her hair.

Sora, as usual, lay in the hammock he'd claimed for himself, his feet up.

David was sitting down on his hammock, his feet brushing the floorboards, his head in his hands as he tried to think.

He was brought from his flurry of thoughts when a wild-eyed Violet approached him.

"I don't want to go back to the forest yet, I like it here!" she cried, shaking David violently by the shoulders. In her panic, and her earnest to return to her frantic pacing, she failed to realize that she had knocked David backwards off of his hammock.

Heck, she hadn't even taken note of his (very girly) scream as he fell into a pile of old junk.

"I think the archery cub is really cool and all, but I couldn't stand the head of the club! Did you see the way that bastard was leering at me?"

The only response she got was an absentminded 'mhm' from Sora, but it seemed like she didn't even care.

"Or maybe I'll join the aquatics club... but they seemed so serious, I don't know if I could handle the pressure?"

"Mhm,"

"And-"

"Hey guys," David was quick to cut off Violet's next tirade, "I think I found something."

"David?" How the two of them managed to chorus that so perfectly, he would never know.

"I'm over here," he called, sticking up a thin arm from behind a tall stack of boxes and junk. Sora couldn't help but laugh at the rather comical sight of David's disembodied arm suddenly popping up from where he was buried beneath the junk.

"What did you find?" Violet asked with trepidation, not knowing what kind of horrendous things could have remained hidden beneath all of the junk piled up all over the Shack.

"You'll never believe me," said David as his head popped up next to where he was waving his arm.

Crawling and weaving his way out from behind the pile of junk, David made his way to the center of the room and laid something out on the ground, carefully rubbing his hands over it.

It looked like he was smoothing out a (very yellow) piece of paper.

David was joined in the center of the Shack by Sora and Violet, the three of them on their knees, with their heads bent together over the piece of paper.

"It's... a map?" Sora gave David an odd look, trying to figure out why this old, yellow map was so 'unbelievable'.

The edges of the paper were torn, giving the appearance of the map being old, or at least very, _very_ used. The shapes that Sora recognized as the regions of the world were hand-sketched across the majority of the map.

However, there was a small collection of islands towards the western end of the map that Sora had never seen on any map before.

"It's not just any map, look at the names at the bottom over here," David pointed over to the bottom right corner of the map, drawing Sora's attention to where seven names had been scrawled on the paper that he now recognized as parchment, all in different styles.

"Aidan King, isn't that-" Sora began, getting a nod from David.

"Our homeroom teacher," he confirmed, drawing a wide-eyed glance from Violet, "I recognize some of the other names, too; look. James Putter and Sirius White," He pointed to one name written in a thick, neat print, the other an almost unintelligible scrawl of sticks.

"Hey, didn't those two become famous for programming the Mega Map?" Sora asked, slightly uncertain as to whether it had been them, or two others.

The two men had become famous for making the Mega Map due to its functionality. Up until their creation, people had been using town maps, hand-drawn maps specific to a region that gave only the essential information on the towns and cities in that region.

The Mega Map was a map that encompassed all of the regions across the world, but this wasn't what made it special. It was digitalized, and highly detailed. It had been implemented into the modern Pokédex, and would pop up as a hologram that could zoom in from a view of the world as a whole, to a specific street in any city or town anywhere in the world.

They were known as two of the greatest explorers in the world.

"There are some other ones as well. Peter Pettyguy, Jay Ketchum, Daniel King," David continued to prattle on.

"Hey, this one says Remus Lupine!" Violet cried out, pointing at the name written in clear, looping script.

Both Sora and David gave Violet odd looks, and she blushed under their scrutiny.

"What, he's one of the most well-known trainers around. Apparently, he only trains Pokémon of the Canine category," she defended herself, then stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at Sora.

"I may have lived in a forest for most of my life, but I still know _some_ things, I'm not completely inept!" She huffed and crossed her arms, pointedly looking away from Sora.

David laughed, until something caught his eye.

"_Marauders..._" he whispered, delicately tracing the golden lettering with his index finger.

"Gesundheit!" Sora said, utterly serious. (No pun intended).

David rolled his eyes at his friend.

"I did not _sneeze_, Sora, the word is right here, at the top of the map. I'd guess it's what they called themselves; The Marauders."

"Of course!" Sora crowed, nodding his head sagely, as if he had known this all along.

This time, both David _and_ Violet rolled their eyes.

There was a moment of quiet before a light buzzing reached their ears, and the three glanced up to see David's Smartphone – made entirely of glass, and which had been provided by the school to all students – light up, showing the time.

"Break's over, we have to move quickly or we'll be late for class," David said quickly as he got up to get his phone, pocketing it before returning to the map.

"What are we going to do about this?" Sora asked, pointing to the map that had gathered a small amount of sand in the middle as it lay on the floorboards.

"What class do you have next?" asked David, seemingly changing the topic of conversation.

"_We_ have WP History next, why?" Violet was the one to answer.

David bent over, rolled up the map and stuck it into one of his pockets.

"I'm bringing this with us."

_-King-_

**AN**/ **Once again, sorry for the late chapter! The plot begins to thicken with this chapter! What's going to happen next? What clubs are the trio going to join? Are they going to join any at all, and risk being sent back home? **

**Don't forget to leave a review telling me what you guys (and girls) think! (If any of you are still there after the long wait T.T)**

_On the next installment of FAME: _The Cartographers – History repeats itself!

_**-King**_


	6. The Cartographers

_**F.A.M.E.**_

_**By King**_

_**Chapter 4 – The Cartographers**_

_-King-_

For two days, nothing interesting happened.

Although, that sentence could be rephrased as 'it only took their homeroom teacher two days to notice two of his students weren't paying attention in his classes.'

But for aesthetic purposes, the first one sounds better.

Just as class had been dismissed for freshman break after second period, Professor King called them out.

"Mr. Johnson, Mr. Stone, I'd like to speak with the two of you in my office for a moment." His voice was even, but it cut clear through the air of the classroom as the pair packed up their things to leave.

Exchanging a look, they finished stuffing their supplies into their book-bags and trotted down the levels of the classroom until they had reached the bottom row. Professor King's office door was to the right of his large mahogany desk, and everyone else was filing out of the classroom from the doors on the upper level of the classroom.

Hesitantly, Sora knocked on the small, plain wooden door; but not before he and David exchanged another glance.

"Enter," The Professor's voice was slightly muffled by the door.

The two entered with a feeling of dread, but were surprised by the rather... ordinary decorations found in the office of their rather eccentric teacher.

It made sense though; his personal quarters were probably decorated with all of his oddities instead of his office.

The walls were painted a calm, dark blue, like the depths of the ocean, and the ceiling was a soft shade of white. He had a desk, exactly like the one in the classroom, only smaller, that was cluttered with papers, pens and the odd picture frame. There was a tall filing cabinet in the corner opposite the door (on the left behind his desk), with a smaller one just beside it.

"Sit boys," he motioned a hand to the two chairs with thick, fluffy cushions situated in front of his desk. He was casually turning back-and-forth on his leather swivel-chair as he expertly twirled a pencil in his right hand.

"Don't worry, I won't bite," he promised, a slight lift of the edges of his lips showing his amusement at their fright.

They sat, staring at their Professor blankly in wait for what he clearly wished to talk about, but made no inclination towards initiating the conversation.

So, they sat.

In an incredibly awkward silence, for nearly five minutes flat, before David finally cracked.

"Y-you said you wanted to talk to us about something, Professor?" He mumbled, unsure if it was his place to begin the conversation, but unwilling to continue with the awkward silence.

The Professor spoke instantly, without any hesitation in his voice.

"There is a map rolled up in the laptop sleeve of your book-bag-" He began, instantly prompting a flurry of questions to erupt in David's mind.

'_He's going to ask where we found it! How we found it! Or maybe he'll ask for it back? Does it hold some sort of evil secret and he needs to keep it from students? What if it holds a secret that could destroy the world? What if I've already triggered it?!'_

The Professor would have been more than amused to follow David's rapidly de-railing train of thought, but sadly, he wasn't a psychic.

The poor boy's facial expressions, however, told him everything, so he decided to continue with his sentence and spare the boy any more unnecessary agony.

"- I'd like to ask what you think of it?"

'_... what?'_ thought David.

"... what?" Sora voiced his thoughts; it looked like they were on the same wavelength.

David could almost _feel_ the amusement rolling off the man in front of him in waves.

"I asked for your opinion on _my_ map," he elaborated, putting an emphasis on 'my' as he spoke.

"W-we have no idea what you're talking about, Professor. W-what m-map?"

Let it be known; Sora was, is, and always will be: a terrible liar.

The Professor even let out a bemused snort before opening his thin lips to berate Sora, but he was cut-off by David before he could get out a word.

"It's wrong. I was looking it over last night, it's wrong. It's... smaller. The dimensions, I mean," he pulled the map out of his back pocket, ignoring Sora's unhinged jaw and the glint in Professor King's eyes. He unfurled it, pushed some of the stray papers on the desk to the side, and lay the map down in front of him.

"I was comparing it to the map we have programmed into our Trainer ID's, and there's far more open space, or well, water, on this map than there was on the official WPA (World Pokémon Association) World Map." He spoke, a tone of excitement and thirst for knowledge and understand unlike anything Sora had heard before coming from the boy who, up until now, he'd seen as shy and a slight shut-in.

"On top of that, over here – just outside the borders of the official League Map, are a light sketch of an island chain," he pointed out the small sketches; they were very light, and the edges weren't clearly defined; a stark contrast to the rest of the map, "there shouldn't even be _water_ here, let alone land.

When he finished his mini-rant, David's brow was furrowed and he had a strand of bleach-white hair plastered to the front of his glasses.

The silence was broken by the loud guffaws of their Professor.

The two boys glanced at each other, brows creased, eyes clouded with confusion.

It took a whole minute before their teacher had calmed down, pulling off his shades and cleaning them with a tissue as tears of mirth streamed down his face.

He gave them a look with piercing blue eyes as another half-smile tugged up at the corners of his lips, and he let out another chuckle.

"Yes, I think the two of you will do just fine," he said cryptically, smoothly sliding his shades back onto his face.

"May I ask what, exactly, we'd be doing fine, Professor?" David asked hesitantly, suddenly cautious at his teacher's odd mood-swing.

The man spun in his leather swivel-chair, his long hair swishing in the air behind him.

"Let me tell you boys a story," he began, gazing out of long window decorating the left side of his office, "during the first few years of this school's existence, when it was just beginning to make a name for itself in this world, a tradition that has lasted until today was born. Students were required to join, or _create_, a club. Nowadays, the school has so many respected clubs that people, both student and teacher, seem to have forgotten that people had to _create_ those clubs for them to exist," He spun around again, folding his hands together as he placed his elbows on the edge of his desk and rested his chin on his hands.

"During this time of, say, new-beginnings, there was a group of seven boys who were... different from the others. They were ambitious, they were restless, and, above all, they were adventurous. They wanted to know things; things that others had never heard of, never _dreamed _of before. People, no matter how wise, or experienced, made mistakes. These boys, these seven, knew this. They wanted to find these mistakes. Correct them. Change them. They wanted to forever leave a mark on a world of constant change."

Even though they couldn't see his eyes through his shades, David and Sora could _feel_ it when his gaze shifted from the map in front of him, to each of their faces.

"They called themselves The Marauders."

The office was filled with a dead silence, Professor King's last words ringing through the psyche of the two boys.

The man glanced up at the digital clock sitting on the corner of his desk and closed his eyes, sighing.

"Run along you two, we don't want you being late for your next class now, do we?" He gave a pointed look over the edge of his shades and jutted his chin at the door.

"Hurry up now, I don't have all day."

They left the classroom with more than just battle strategy on their minds.

_-King-_

"Hey Sora," David spoke into the darkness of the room; the only other sound being the comforting _creak_ of the hammocks as they swung lazily. It was just the two of them in the Shack, and night had fallen more than a couple of hours ago.

Neither of them could sleep

"Hhgn," Sora's tired grunt was David's only indication that his friend was listening.

"I think the Professor was trying to tell us something," he continued, his head resting on his arms as he stared at a ceiling he couldn't see.

"Ngh hn?" _'You think?'_

"Mm," was all David said for a while.

...

"Sora?"

The silver-haired boy sighed in resignation before replying with a throaty _'what?'_

"What if we re-created a club, instead of joining one?"

"You mean the Marauders?" Sora lifted his head from where it had been resting under his right arm to glance in David's general direction.

"Yeah. Imagine us, sailing out at sea, with no adult restrictions in sight. The salty wind blowing in our faces as we sketch out uncharted lands..." Even as David rambled on, he couldn't help but anticipate Sora's mocking tone.

So, it was to his great surprise that Sora spoke in a tone as equally as wistful as his own had been.

"We'd be able to do whatever we wanted. We could find new Pokémon species. Heck, maybe we'll get lucky and find some buried treasure; get rich... that would _totally_ be the life!"

...

"It would take a lot of hard work. We'd need funds, which means lots and lots of fundraising. We'd need a sponsor to convince the Headmaster that we're responsible enough. We'll probably have to work even more diligently on our studies-" David tried to reason with himself, tried to be realistic, but he couldn't help the blossom of _want_ that stirred in his chest.

"Let's do it," he was cut off by Sora, "Let's start our club. We'll map out the whole _world_ David. Think of it, just you and me, buddy,"

"And Violet," David added.

"Yeah, and Violet too," Sora nodded, even though he knew David couldn't see him.

...

"Think we could convince Jen to join us as well?" Sora asked, his tone hopeful. David snorted at his best friend.

"I called it; you were _totally_ drooling all over her the other day," David was grinning.

It struck him suddenly, and without warning; an epiphany.

He had found himself.

He had only been gone for a week.

He had only been here for a week...

... and already, he knew he had changed. Sora specifically, had changed him the most. He was being open, smiling, laughing, and he didn't even realize it.

It felt... good.

"I wasn't _drooling_,-" Sora tried defending himself, but David didn't give him the chance.

"Like a starved Snorlax at an all-you-can-eat buffet," David snickered when his friend gave a resigned huff.

...

"What about the cute one, then? What was her name, Amber?" Sora teased.

David thanked every Deity he knew – Pokémon and non-Pokémon – that Sora couldn't see his face right now. He was absolutely _sure_ that he was as red as a tomato at the moment.

"W-what about her?" Damn his stutter!

"Dude, you _groped_ her!" Why'd Sora have to sound so incredulous when his said that?

"And?"

"And? _And?_ You _grabbed_ a girl's _boob_, and it was a _big_ boob, too, and all you have to say is _and?_" Sora laughed.

"Are you sure you aren't a homosexual?" He teased.

"Sh-shut up, it's not my fault that her... _assets_ are so disproportional to the rest of her body! Or that her eyes are so pretty... or that she was _sitting in my lap with her boob in my hand!_ How am I supposed to feel, _Arceus damnit!_" Now David was really red, flustered, and was running a shaky hand through his white hair while biting his lower lip.

...

Why wasn't Sora saying anything?

...

Had he fallen asle-

"_Ickle Davie-kins is in love~_," Sora teased, and David could _feel _his smugness, but couldn't come up with anything in retaliation.

So he resorted to the natural defense mechanism of the _Male-is in Denial-is._

Name-calling.

"Ass-wipe!"

"Stutter-bug!"

"Horn-dog!"

"Scaredy-cat!"

"Man-whore!"

...

"Lolicon!"

"I am not! If liking Amber makes me a Lolicon, then, then... it does not!"

His only response was laughter.

"Sora!"

When Sora refused to do anything other than laugh, David blew a raspberry at his friend and promptly rolled over so that his back was facing Sora.

It took a few minutes before Sora (finally) calmed down, and the cabin went silent.

David couldn't help the stray though that wondered when the Shack had become their home more than their actual cabin.

"'Night David," David was just beginning to drift-off into the clutches of the Dream World when he heard Sora.

But he wasn't totally out of it yet.

"'Night... _dick_," he got in a final shot before succumbing to the night's warm embrace.

_-King-_

"Alright! Thus begins, the first unofficial meeting of the New Marauders!" Sora yelled as the five friends sat around the Marauder's Map on the floor of the shack.

One could _literally_ hear the Kricketots chirping in the background.

"That was rather anticlimactic," Jenna laughed, causing Sora to puff his cheeks out at her.

"Hush, you," he waved at her dismissively as she rolled her eyes at his antics.

"So what's our first order of business?" Sora asked, glancing around at everyone with his silver eyebrows raised.

"We need a better name," Violet called out almost instantly. Everyone turned to her, all with varying expressions of curiosity and confusion.

"Better name?" Sora echoed, and she nodded.

"The 'New Marauders' isn't original at _all_, because it was _someone else's name_. Aren't we supposed to be original? Adventurous? Different?" She explained, and received understanding nods from everyone else in their little group.

The silence was only broken by the occasional grunt, hum, or (generally lame) club-name proposition.

"David," Amber rolled backwards onto her back – holding her feet to her bottom with her hands – so that she could see David lazily swinging a foot over the edge of his hammock.

"Y-yeah?" He silently cursed his light blush and stutter. He had (sadly) not forgotten his and Sora's conversation the night before.

"What do you call someone who draws maps?" she asked curiously.

That got everyone's attention.

David's brow furrowed as he tried to dive into his memory banks to see if there was, indeed, a word for that.

He finally remembered it after recalling a conversation between his mother and uncle, whose job it was to map out ancient ruins with his fellow explorers. When David had asked him what his job was, his uncle had responded with 'a sort of Cartographer'.

"Cartographer; someone who draws maps is called a Cartographer," his voice was soft, and one could almost _hear_ the approval in his tone.

Slowly, one by one, the other four began nodding. Amber and Sora were grinning, Violet was giving a small smile and Jennifer... well, she was being Jennifer, but David swore he saw a glint of approval in her eyes.

"_The Cartographers_... I like it!" Sora exclaimed, his grin (by some miracle of the laws of physics) growing even wider.

As a group they gave a small cheer before, once again, collecting into a haphazard circle around the map.

"Right, now we have to decide our _second_ order of business; how are we going to make 'The Cartographers' an official club?" Sora spoke as acting head of the club. He'd asked David if he wanted to be the leader, because the club had been his idea, but David had refused, saying Sora was a natural-born leader.

"Wait, we're not an official club yet?" Amber squeaked; her eyes wide as she stared at the silver-haired boy.

Jennifer face-palmed.

"Am," she began, using the nickname she'd given to her best friend a long time ago, "this is the first _unofficial_ meeting of the Cartographers because we're not an _official_ club yet!"

...

"Oh."

Jennifer rolled her eyes as Sora and Violet attempted to hold in a bout of chuckles and giggles respectively. David just gave a small smile as he stared discreetly (at least, what he _thought_ was discreetly) at Amber.

"To form a club, the permission of two tenured Professors is required. Furthermore, it is obligatory to bring an argument to the Headmaster detailing the reasons you believe your club should exist, and the benefits your club would bring to the school."

Amber let out a quiet '_eep!'_ at the cold voice that spoke from directly behind her. (She had her back to the door, and thus had been the only one not to see the sudden appearance of a shadow outlined in the doorway.)

When their eyes had finally adjusted to the sunlight now spilling into the Shack (they had drawn the blinds over the single window), everyone heard Violet let out a small gasp.

"Fleur? What are you doing here?"

And, indeed, it _was_ Fleur. She was leaning against the doorframe, her expression smug as she looked down on the group of six.

Naturally, she had read in a book that people tended to leave a better impression if they looked 'cool' when speaking to others. Standing in a doorway with light streaming into the room behind you – leaving you nothing but an outline – was most _definitely_ classified as 'cool'.

"I admit I was most curious as to why my roommate would vanish so often during the day. I had believed you to be consorting with bad company and decided to follow you, for I do not wish for a roommate who consorts with the wrong sort," she took a deep breath and continued.

"When I overheard you and your... associates' plans for the creation of a club which had the hopes of re-vamping the map of the planet, my curiosity was piqued. You see, I have read many a book which details the natural wonders of this world, but I have yet to see any of them with mine own eyes. It has something I have wished to do for a long time."

...

"So you want to join the club?" Violet asked.

Sora gave her a look so incredulous Jennifer and Fleur believed it would fall of his face if he moved it any more.

"How in the name of the Legendary Mew did you get _that_ out of... _that?!_" He asked while gesticulating wildly between Violet and Fleur.

Violet only shrugged in response.

"Well... if you want to join then... welcome, I guess? We're kind of not-official yet, so..." Sora trailed off lamely, but Fleur gave a short nod anyway before stepping around the room to put herself next to Violet.

"So... Fleur, was it?" Sora asked.

She nodded in affirmative.

"Right, I guess introductions are in order?" He looked around the room, and everyone else nodded their heads.

"Does anyone want to go first?"

"Oh, oh, me-me-me, I wanna go first! Pick me!" Amber was bouncing up-and-down with her hand in the air, her ear-tipped hoodie twitching back and forth.

"Go ahead Am, nobody's stopping you," Jennifer rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"_Yes!_" She low-pumped her fist, "I'm Amber Sands! I'm from Lavaridge Town, in Hoenn! I'm in the Breeding Program, and my best-bud and partner is Sandy, my Sandshrew!" She spoke, once again, with her over-the-top gesticulations.

"_She's the one over there raiding the mini-fridge! But 'shh', don't tell her I said that, she thinks she's sneaky!_" Amber whispered to Fleur conspiratorially whilst pointing out the desert Pokémon.

Fleur glanced at the Pokémon slightly behind her to the right, giving a small nod of acknowledgement.

"I like bubbles, the beach, drawing and my hoodie! I don't like sour food! Or shrimp! Oh, and one day, I want to be a manga artist!" She finished with a happy smile.

Jennifer rolled her eyes and then sighed, grabbing the attention of the others in the room. Noticing that everyone's eyes were on her, she straightened up slightly, tossing her flowing, copper hair over her shoulder.

"I guess I'll just have to go next. I'm Jennifer Stockholm, and I'm Amber's best friend. I'm from Mauville City in the Hoenn region and I'm in the Performance Program," She flipped her hair again, "I like putting on performances, I like leading boys on, and I love my girlfriend Amy,"

One could practically _feel_ the room grind to a halt.

...

"Sora, are you alright? Your nose is bleeding," Amber pointed out, her tone wholeheartedly innocent (read: sarcastically so).

And, true to her word, Sora was pinching the bridge of his nose, – his right elbow sticking out to the side – blood flowing over his lips to drip from his chin and onto the floor between his legs.

When he spoke, his voice was far more nasally than it had been just a minute prior.

"My apologies: continue," he waved his other hand at Jennifer – who was sitting directly across from him and glaring daggers from her sharp blue eyes – and closed his eyes, tipping his head back to prevent an more 'leakage'.

"I dislike _perverts_," she said venomously; still glaring daggers at Sora, "And people who think they know what they're talking about when they say Contests are easier than Pokémon Battles, and it is my life's _goal_," she said passionately...

...

"... _to try every flavour of bubblegum in the world!"_

...

"Wait, theriouthly?" Sora asked, once more with a look of incredulity on his face; his nosebleed forgotten about (and once again dripping between his legs).

She nodded, and Sora was unable to find a hint of jest in her expression.

Jennifer tensed suddenly, expecting him to ridicule her dream, but ridicule was not what she received.

Sora whistled lowly, "Thath's a lofthy frickin' goal ya' goth there. Do you _know _how many flavourth of bubblegum there are out there?"

Everyone stared at Sora in some modicum of shock, but he ignored them in favor of tipping his head back once more.

...

"I guess I'll go next, then," David called softly from where he was still softly swinging his leg while lying down on the hammock.

"My name is David Johnson and I'm from Hearthome City, in the Sinnoh region. I am in the Battle Program, and I am taking Ancient History, WP History and Mythology as electives. I like the subtle side of battling, adventure, and sleeping in my Torterra's tree," that got a few raised eyebrows from the other not-yet-official-club members.

"Like Amber, I don't really like shrimp, and I really, _really_ don't like doctors," he clenched his left fist, but nobody noticed because his left side was facing the wall, "And... I guess... I want to leave my mark on the world. Something unique that will have people remembering my name for hundreds of years."

The Shack had gone silent, a couple of them staring at the quiet boy with slack jaws.

When nobody decided to take initiative, David sighed.

"Violet, would you introduce yourself next?"

"O-oh, sure; yeah, I'll go next!" Violet seemed to visibly shake herself from a stupor before plastering a toothy smile on her face.

"My name's Violet Light, I'm from... um, well I lived in the woods close to Anistar City... Oh! I'm in the Battle Program, like David! I like nature and, uhm, learning about all of the different human cultures... I absolutely _adore_ Cheri Berries! I really don't like people who think nature is something to take advantage of and it's my dream to one day invent future technologies that can work in harmony with nature!"

Though he doubted anyone else noticed it, David thought (emphasis on _thought_) he could see the slightest sparks of respect flaring in Fleur's molten eyes as she listened to the dreams of her roommate.

"I gueth that jutht leaveth me," Sora piped up, his voice coming out nasally and slurring due to his nosebleed, "My name'th Thora Thtone, and I wath acthually born in Ever Grande Thity, which ith literally jutht a few mileth north-eatht from here," He nodded his head in the general direction of his hometown.

"I really enjoy Pokémon battleth, whether I'm watching one or partithipating in one, but I altho like to thtudy the different thingth Pokémon with different typeth do when unthupervithed in the wild," that got more than a few raised eyebrows from the circle of not-quite-yet-a-club, club members, "I, like my mother and father, have a fathination with mythology and rare rockth or gemth; ethpecially when the two are correlated."

"My dream, and ulthimately, my goal, are to thtep out from beneath the shadowth of my parenth and thtrike out into the world on my own," he finished, giving a deep breath and a bright (and terrifyingly bloody) smile.

Jennifer couldn't help it; she laughed.

"Oh Arceus, Sora, you sound _ridiculous!_" she gasped for breath, clutching her sides as Sora pouted at her.

"Thuferin' Thucketash, you think tho? I had abtholutely no _idea!_" He rebutted, purposefully slurring his words whilst making a reference to a cartoon character with a famous speech impediment.

The rest of them (except for Fleur, believing that such crude humour was beneath her) began laughing along with Jennifer and Sora, until it eventually trailed off into wayward chuckles, and then silence.

The group kind-of just sat there awkwardly for a couple of moments, until the silence was broken by a sigh coming from Fleur, of all people.

"Well, considering the fact that the lot of you deemed it necessary to introduce yourselves in such a manner, I will contribute to this... _bonding session_, as well,"

'_Oh Lord,'_ thought David to himself, _'she sounds like a total prat!'_

"I was born Gwendolyn Morrow – though I prefer the name by which mother called me; Fleur – in the quaint town of Littleroot here in the region of Hoenn. I like books, and I hate people and my _grandpère_," she spoke, her accent suddenly gaining a faint hint of Kalosian, "I am in the Research Program, and I wish to gain my Researcher's License to study the habits and habitats of rare Pokémon," She finished, not a single emotion crossing her features as she spoke.

The not-quite-yet-a-club still smiled at her anyway as they began to discuss their 'plans for the future'. It wasn't long before they were talking about everything and anything that they could think of, the lot of them sprawled around the Shack's interior.

Slowly (very slowly, mind you), Fleur began to open up, along with Jennifer and, surprisingly, David. 'The Trio', as Amber called David, Sora and Violet, got to know the people that would become their fellow club members, and could comfortably say that, by the time the next day rolled around; they were friends.

The six of them talked late into the night, and Violet was the first to crash with her head leaning against the side of the mini-fridge.

Fleur was the second to succumb to sleep, tucked into the corner to the right of the door with a blanket over her knees.

The next was Sora, who was passed-out snoring (lightly) on his hammock, only to be quickly followed by Jennifer who had poured over the Marauder's Map until she slipped into unconsciousness as well.

David and Amber stayed awake long into the night, each of them nursing a can of pop until they were periodically giving soft burps and giggles, and their eyelids grew heavy.

Eventually, Amber fell asleep as well; curled up on the thick, lone windowsill with Sandy nestled beneath her hoodie, her head sticking out of the front. For a while, David just watched the light rise-and-fall of her chest as she slept; a small smile on his face.

Never in a million years would he have believed someone if they described his current situation to him a month prior. He had friends, was helping to resurrect a club that could very well impact the world, depending on its findings, and, for the first time he could remember, was having _genuine_ fun.

He closed his eyes, finally letting his thoughts drift off into dreams.

But, just before he slipped into the clutches of unconsciousness, a thought drifted to the forefront of his mind.

He wholeheartedly agreed with it.

'_Life couldn't be better.'_

_-King-_

**AN**/ **Here it is! I wanted to come out with this earlier, but couldn't find a good place to stop it, so I just kept writing! Enjoy, fair readers, you will not get another one for over a month! Though I have a legitimate excuse this time! **

**Exams!**

**This year is important, as I will be taking ministry exams, and my last exam is on the 18****th**** of June. On the 23****rd**** of June, I leave for Europe, for eleven days, along with another 93 students from my high school!**

**So, cherish this update, it will be the last for a little while!**

**Don't forget to leave reviews! **

**And it doesn't have to be an OC submission for it to be a review, I cherish your opinions, honest!**

_**-King**_

_**EXTRA NOTE:**_

**I'm terrible. Really, I am. I finished this a few days ago and **_**completely**_** forgot to post it! My apologies! See you guys in two-or-so months!**


	7. Record Breakers!

_**F.A.M.E.**_

_**By King**_

_**Chapter 5 - Record Breakers!**_

**_UPDATE 13/09/14: HEY EVERYONE! Quick update here! I want someone to name the Cartographer's ship! Send me your suggestions through PM or Review; I'll pick my favourite as the name of the vessel! GO!_**

_-King-_

"Booya! Who's awesome? I am!" Sora was yelling to the heavens as he busted through the door of the Shack, gaining similar cries of elation from the group of six.

"This is it boys and girls! Remember this day for the rest of your lives; the rebirth of a Legend! Today's the day the Cartographers became an official club!" The six gathered in a circle, stacking their hands atop one another as Sora gave his mini-speech. With a roar, the group lifted their hands high, grins on all of their faces.

Even Fleur couldn't help but let herself get caught up un their festive attitude.

_-King-_

_'This is really anti-climactic,'_ David thought to himself two days after their club had become official. He was sitting in his homeroom class and Professor King was giving a lecture up at the front of the class. He and Sora weren't paying attention, as their teacher was explaining the connections between types, and the types they were weak, neutral and strong to.

Though to most this kind of lecture would be invaluable, to Sora and David, who had already traveled with a team of Pokemon, this was basic.

David's mind was wandering, and though he was super-excited that he had helped in the re-creation of a club, the things that had happened afterwards were kind-of boring in comparison.

Why, you ask? What could honestly be so boring?

Nothing.

No, not 'nothing could be so boring!', literally _only_ 'nothing' could be _so boring!_ Nothing had happened! At all!

... Unless you counted classes, but David didn't.

His attention was diverted from his thoughts to the classroom when he noticed everyone began filing out.

He looked at the clock... nope, bell hadn't rung yet. So where was everyone going?

David nudged Sora, who was lightly snoring beside him with his head in his hands, waking the boy up.

"I didn't steal the panties, I swear!"

...

"What the hell were you dreaming about, dumbass?" David really _had_ begun to open up more in the last few days.

The few people who had heard Sora's abrupt awakening were snickering, and the poor boy was blushing red from head-to-toe.

"Hey David, what's going on?" He asked, bewildered as he watched everyone file out through the door and into the school's hallways.

"I have no clue, I wasn't paying attention."

Sora snorted, but followed his best friend through the doorway anyways.

_-King-_

Now the duo were really confused. They had followed their professor all the way outside of the building, only for the class to keep walking past the school grounds and all the way into the adjacent Block B.

Finally stopping before a high-tech building surrounding by flashing neon lights and tinted black windows, The Professor turned to his students, a grin showing off his pearly-whites.

"Since the lot of you seemed to be so _thoroughly_ enjoying my lecture, I figured you'd just _love_ what I have in store for you. Boys and girls, get ready for a Pop Quiz!" There were groans all around.

"This Quiz _will_ be graded towards your practical mark, so try your best, students! This is FAME's Arcade! Find the game 'Type Advantage!', there should be enough for all of you, and defeat level 4 for a grade of one-hundred percent! Any higher counts for bonus marks! Oh, and if anyone beats level ten, they can count my class as a Free Period for the next three days!"

While most of the class ran for the doors in a rush to begin the game, David grabbed Sora by the elbow and dragged him to where their Professor was leaning against the side of the building.

Aiden King raised a single crimson brow at the two students approaching him.

"Good day boys! Enjoy your nap, Sora?" The boy had the decency to blush, "I'm curious, were the panties striped or polka-dotted?" That was too much, and had Sora blushing up a storm at his teacher's guffaws.

When he finally calmed down, David was able to ask the question that had been itching at him since his teacher's announcement of the Pop Quiz.

"Professor, I'm just curious... what's the high score for this game?"

To his credit, Aiden's only indication of emotion was a single raised eyebrow.

"Fifteen. Nobody knows if there's a higher level, but nobody's beaten level Fifteen."

His question answered, David turned around and dragged Sora into the Arcade, leaving behind a smirking teacher to ponder at the ability of his students.

_-King-_

Ooh, David _liked_ this game!

The first level was simple. Child's play, really.

It was a clear arcade game, a stand-alone box with a square screen. On the dashboard were six buttons. That was it.

The rules were simple. The 'player' was given a select choice of Pokemon, each with their types displayed. A Pokemon would then 'appear' from the wild, and the Player had to choose the Pokemon best suited for the battle.

Like he had said, the first level only gave the choice of two Pokemon, each with only one type. The wild Pokemon would appear, being a Pokemon with only one type, and the player had ten seconds to choose the right Pokemon.

For every correct answer, the player got an extra five seconds added to their clock. For every wrong answer, the player lost five seconds.

There were ten 'rounds' in which the player's Pokemon would change and a new wild Pokemon would pop out, and then the level was over.

The second level was just as easy, only with one extra Pokemon added for the Player to choose from.

The third level had three Pokemon for the Player, but each Pokemon had two types, as well as the wild Pokemon.

In the fourth level, the player's Pokemon would switch between having one type and having two types, as well as there being four Pokemon to choose from. The same happened with the wild Pokemon.

As an example, let's say you're given a Lucario, Squirtle, Mareep, and Onix.

The wild Pokemon is a Heatran.

What you'd have to think about is the fact that; even though Squirtle looks like a good choice against Heatran due to the Water/Fire advantage, this is only a 2x advantage. Instead, Onix is the best choice, being a Ground type, it has a 4x advantage against Heatran's Fire/Steel typing.

Even then, by the end of Level 4 David had advanced without a single mistake, and he was quickly onto then next round.

By now, more than half of the class had lost to the game, and chosen people to gather around and cheer for.

Level 5 made it more difficult by adding a fifth Pokemon and increasing the 'wrong answer penalty' to seven seconds. This was still no problem for David.

Level 6: Six Pokemon and the 'correct answer advantage' was reduced to three seconds.

Level 7: Five Pokemon, but two Wild Pokemon would appear, and the Player had to pick which two on their own team were most compatible to combat the opposing Pokemon.

Level 8: Six Pokemon, and a general increase in difficulty.

Level 9: A new aspect is added to the game. Each Pokemon has a move that the player must take into consideration when choosing them as the most eligible to fight.

In the same scenario as before, if Onix's move was Rock Throw, but Lucario had Earthquake, then despite his disadvantage to fire types (being a steel type), he would have the best chance at defeating Heatran on the first move.

By now, there were only four people playing the game.

One was David.

One was Sora.

Level 10 took things to a whole new level by adding a _third_ wild Pokemon to battle against, but Sora managed to squeeze by with ten seconds left, and one of the other kids managed with only _two_. They didn't make it past Level Eleven's first round.

By now the class had been split in half, one side cheering for Sora and the other for, well, the other kid.

Though the third wild Pokemon had been taken out of the scenario, _stats _were now in play, in which the player had to choose the Pokemon whose type _and_ move outweighed the opposing Pokemon's, as well as having to anticipate if their chosen Pokemon could either a) hit the other Pokemon first or b) survive the hit and deal more damage in return.

To the surprise of both the class _and_ the professor, the two first-year students took things to the next level.

Literally.

Level Twelve was practically _insanity_... even though the player now only had four Pokemon to choose from, their Pokemon no longer had their types displayed! The Player's advancement through the game depended solely on their prior knowledge of Pokemon and their typings!

And, even then, David and the other kid forged onwards.

Level 13 made it more difficult by adding a fifth Pokemon into the mix, as well as taking away the type display of one of the opposing Pokemon.

Level 14 added a sixth Pokemon, as well as taking away the second opposing Pokemon's type display.

And there they had it.

The both of them had advanced to level 15, the highest level ever seen by any player before them. This level, however, proved too much for the first-year boys by bringing in a whole new ball game.

Only one extra thing was added into the equation, but it was enough to take them both out: Items.

At virtually the same time, both sides of the classroom split into groans of defeat.

Level 15. Round 4. Game Over.

David slumped over in exhaustion, sweat dripping from his hair and sticking to his shirt in the stuffy atmosphere of the Arcade.

Dragging his eyes to the side at a sudden commotion, David laid eyes upon a figure he had only seen a few times before in class. It was the kid he'd been unofficially competing with as they played the game.

He was sweating just as much as David, and had his hand stretched out for a handshake, a tired grin on his face.

"That was pretty wicked, we've gotta do that again sometime," David accepted the guy's handshake, slightly grossed out by the fact that both of their palms were slick with sweat. He tried to discreetly wipe his hands off on his jeans, but it didn't look like it was working so well.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun, I guess? Never really done anything like it before," David contributed awkwardly.

"I'm Xanders, by the way," The boy introduced.

"David," David nodded back, taking a good look at they guy.

He was a good bit taller than David, and had short black hair with a blue streak across his fringe. He was wearing a zipped grey hoodie (how?!) with plain blue jeans, and had red and white sneakers on his feet.

David's attention was diverted from the guy before him when he noticed that he was staring at something behind him.

Turning slightly, David bore witness to the sight of Sora clicking away at the buttons on 'his' 'Type Advantage' game-box.

"Sora?" David implored questioningly. Sora hit a final button on the machine before turning to David with a grin.

"I figured you needed a cool nickname for someone at the top, David seemed too lame," David stuck his tongue out at Sora for the playful insult.

"So, what'd you call me?" he asked curiously.

"C-1!"

...

"Uhh, what?" Everyone else around them seemed to be on the same page as David. What kind of name was C-1?

"Well, I figured since you're the First Cartographer, C-1 sounded cool! You know, I'd be like, C-2, and Violet would be C-3?"

"Wait, wait, wait," David shook his hands in front of his body protectively, "Who said _I_ was the First? We _both_ founded the Cartographers, why am I First?" David asked, feeling he wasn't adequate enough to lead the club. That was Sora's job!

"Even if we founded it together, _you_ were the one that found the map that sparked the club's creation. So, you're C-1!" Sora argued back.

Now the rest of the class was thoroughly confused, and Xanders was the first to express it.

"What was all that about the Car-what-nows?"

David and Sora blinked blankly at him for a couple of seconds, caught by surprise by the random question. Sora recovered first.

"Oh!" He began, suddenly perking up, "David and I founded a club two days ago, we're called The Cartographers! There's six of us already!" He sounded way too much like a little kid.

Xanders gave a light 'hm', before marching over to his own console, before he began clicking away at the buttons.

Curious, David walked up to him to ask what he was doing.

"I'm... naming myself... there! C-7! I hope you guys don't mind?"

David and Sora could only give an eloquent 'Huh?' in response.

"I want to join your club. You guys seem pretty cool and you said you already had six members. That would make me number seven."

The two stopped for a second, looked to each other, and responded at the same time.

"Definitely!"

_-King-_

_(Timeskip: Two months after Xander joins the club)_

One of the coolest things about FAME, David found, was the system that had been developed for the more... independent kind of student. For those who wanted to make a little bit of spending money while they lived on campus, they could head to what had been unofficially dubbed the 'Mission Board'.

Here, anyone could put up a notice of a task or activity that they wanted performed, as well as the price they'd be willing to pay for the task to be completed.

Some were small things, like helping the Janitors clean up the massive campus for a little bit of pocket money, the kind you'd spend on the tiny candy shop that one of the old students ran on Oxy Road.

Some were the big jobs, the ones that only students with special talent and high status would take. These kind of jobs were generally put up by teachers who needed special help with something specific, and they were willing to pay some pretty decent prices for a good helper.

Then there were the jobs that students with a 'purpose' would take. The kind of jobs that the Cartographers were taking to fundraise for their Club Project. Jobs like playing a round of 'Battlefield' with the new 'Tairies.

Whoever thought this was a good idea needed to get torched.

By a Flamethrower attack.

Repeatedly.

*Cough*Sora*Cough*

'War' was a game invented by the staff of the Military Program over ten years ago as a way to get the students used to intense situations.

Currently, the Cartographers could be found sitting in a dark room, each of them outfitted in army regalia as they stared at a projection one a wall before them. With a sudden burst of static, an automated voice came over the speakers and began explaining the game that they were soon going to participate in.

'War involves teams, each with their own colour and team name, that register themselves at the end of the First Semester as participants in the game. Every team is either given, or chooses a 'secret base' somewhere on campus where their team flag is to be hidden,' The voice continued to drone on, but the gist of what Sora (decidedly the most simple-minded of the lot) understood, was the following:

During the Second Semester, no 'Tairy went to class... because this War _was_ their class for the entire Semester. They were graded on the amount of 'kills' they made both as an individual and as a team, on the amount of other team flags they captured, on the amount of times they saved teammates from 'death', and everything in between.

Teams that joined who _aren't_ part of the Military Program are exempt from classes for the Semester as well, but all members had to have the approval of their Professors and had to make up for studying on their own time.

The teams in the Military Program are made at the beginning of the year, and students are not allowed to choose the members of their team. They are put together by the teachers at random, mixing first year students with veterans as preparation for the real world, where they will be put on teams with people they've never met before.

A paid game of 'Battlefield' is a team vs team capture the flag match, paid by members of the challenging team so that they can get used to working as a unit.

The way the game itself worked, was that each team had fourteen members; Seven human players and a Pokemon partner of their choice for each player. Teams were supplied with guns that shot pellets filled with paint the colour their team represented, and even Pokemon (at least, those who could handle them) were allowed to wield them.

If a human player were to be hit with an opposing team's pellet in an area deemed 'vital', they're considered 'dead', and are exempt from the battle taking place.

A 'battle' is engaged when two members of different teams encounter each other, and activate a special setting on their Trainer Card known as 'At War', by typing in the colour of the other team and the name of the encountered player. Only by having both sides accept to the terms of 'War' whilst in close proximity to each other can a battle be initiated.

The game was won when either A) A Team had collected all of the Flags, or B) The Semester finished and the winner was decided by the amount of total Kills a team had multiplied by the number of flags they had collected.

... But I'm getting ahead of myself.

When he had first proposed the Cartographers as a club, Sora had included that they planned to make some money, funds that they would put towards buying a boat. This boat would the be used by them during the three Summer months to travel around Hoenn and map it out to the best of their ability.

However, whoever said they couldn't have fun while making a little bit of money?

"Woohoo!" Sora whopped as he dashed through the thick trees of block D, mustard-yellow paint splattering the greenery behind him.

In accordance with David's plan (he loved that kid, he really did), Sora pulled the pin on his paint grenade and dropped it into the underbrush. Clearing a bush without breaking his stride, Sora leaned back into a textbook perfect baseball slide as a Zoroark (one of Violet's Pokemon) cloaked to look like himself dropped from the trees above and kept running.

Pulling himself behind the nearest tree, Sora watched two of the Yellow Team's members, a boy and his Machop, get nailed with an explosion of acid-green paint as they chased after the fake.

Ignoring the kid's sudden burst of expletives, his three teammates (A young girl, an Infernape and a Growlithe) rushed passed while trying to keep the fake Sora in their line of sight.

Just as the girl got the disguised Pokemon in her sights, he morphed back into his original form and swung himself up into the treetops. Startled, she and her two companions never noticed the grinning Sora creep up behind her.

With a triumphant cry, Sora shouldered his fully-automatic firearm and unloaded on their unsuspecting backs, splattering the three of them in a veritable film of green paint, along with a fair number of welts from the explosive pellets.

At their angered/pouting expressions, Sora gave them a raspberry, pulling down on the skin beneath his right eye in a taunt.

"Ya snooze ya loose, su- Ow!" Sora went to further verbally taunt the three members of the other team, but he was rudely interrupted by a stinging pain erupting at the back of his skull. Reaching back when he felt a warm wetness trickling through his hair, Sora gave a curse of his own when his fingers came back covered in yellow paint.

He barely had the time to catch the cheshire grin of his opponent as the older boy flew past through the forest foliage.

It took another moment for him to realize that their green flag was in his grasp.

It took a further second-or-two for his mind to register the guy's words as he passed.

"Ya snooze ya loose, _sucker!_"

He could deal with the shot to the back of the head and the capture of his team's flag, but stealing his line was _not_ cool!

"Oi!" He tried to yell at the guy's retreating back, to no avail.

The snickers of the girl he'd nailed just before weren't helping either.

_-King-_

After the announcement of the Yellow Team's win, the twenty eight members that had participated in the game gathered together at a spot directly between where their flags had been positioned. Sora watched with an immature pout as David shook the hand of the guy that had taken their flag.

The 'Tairy third year, a guy named Vitus (or something like that), handed David an envelope, thanked him and his team for their time, and left.

Sora watched as David conversed with everyone in their Club, thanking the Pokemon for their contribution and everything. He gave a light smile as he watched his first friend interact with this bunch of people that they had come to know and trust in such a short amount of time.

Even if he didn't show it, and even if it was a sentiment more mature than someone his age should be able to manage, Sora was _proud_ of David. He had seen the boy develop from a shy kid who barely knew how to interact with a regular person, into the kind and caring, albeit publicly quiet and privately sarcastic, person that he was now.

Whether or not he knew it, David was already one of the most well-liked people in the school. Everybody knew about him for one reason or another.

Despite the fact that he was quiet, and still kept _some_ of his shy tendencies, David was clearly a prodigy in the art of battling, rivalled by very few even in the higher grades. He had risen among the ranks of the school's unique battle system really quickly, and he never let the attention get to his head.

He always took the time out of his day to spend time with his friends, now matter how 'odd' some of the other students thought them to be.

And, he still had the same goal he'd had when the two had first wanted to create the Cartographers. Even now, he was taking the time out of his studying to raise funds for the club.

Sora grinned. He was proud to call David his best friend.

And to think, they were just getting started...

Sora grinned.

_-King-_

_**AN/: In the words of Sora the Mighty: This is it! Ladies and gentlemen... welcome to the end of the beginning! Yup, you've guessed right! This is the end of FAME; and the beginning of something much bigger. Truthfully, this **_**entire**_** story is basically a set up for the sequel, something I hope all of you divine readers will look out for in the near future.**_

_**However, I say this with a warning; my sequel will **_**not **_**be for the faint of heart. I know FAME has been humorous, funny and light-hearted. The sequel, Spliced, won't be. There will be some rather serious themes in the story, and it will be rated M, without a doubt. This story is going to take a darker turn... but don't worry about it **_**too**_** much, I'm not going to ruin the plot with a suddenly hateful dark turn. The characters are still going to be the same (mostly), and there will definitely be happy moments, but like life, this sequel's going to have its ups and downs.**_

_**Speaking of life... I'm a sack of shit. I really am. This should have been out a **_**really**_** long time ago, and I have no excuse. (Well, I **_**do**_** actually have excuses, but that's what they are, excuses. Whether or not I had Summer School, or a summer project (that still isn't completed), or a really freaking amazing 11-day romp through Europe with 94 other students from my grade (shoutout to readers from London, Paris, Lucern and Munich!), those still don't excuse the fact that I was lazy and a minor form of writer's block should not have stopped me from getting this out sooner.) **_

_**Anyway... I'd like to give my personal apologies to fennekinfan. She was so excited for the next instalment and I kept it from her for two whole extra months. *Bows deeply in shame***_

_**I truly don't deserve such awesome fans.**_

_**Anyway, look out for my sequel, Spliced! Though... I think I'm going to take a break first and focusing on one of my other stories. Any Naruto fans here should check out Minimum Pokemon, I was rather fond of the idea, but I never continued it. I think I will now that I have the time...**_

_**See the lot of you later!**_

_**King**_

_**...**_

_**Oh, and a quick note to my little brother... I know you're reading this, you little shit! Go to bed! And ignore the hypocrisy in the fact it's literally 12:40 when as finish writing this! I'm your older brother, I can do what I want, when I want! Go to sleep! You're ruining your eye-sight the same way I did, reading fanfiction off of my Iphone when I'm supposed to be sleeping! Sleeeeeeeeep!**_

_**Ahem. Okay, bye, for real this time!**_

_**... Ah, and check your alerts, I think I'll post a quick note on the next chapter when I post the first one for spliced.**_


	8. AN! Go check out Chapter 5!

**So... something went weird with the site and you guys didn't get the update. This is just an AN so you followers o' mine can go and see it... it's at the top of the last chapter, impossible to miss. Go check it out! Peace!**

**Oh, and this probably won't be up here for very long for you sticklers for rules out there.**


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